Wednesday, April 19, 2006 By: Gus Thomson, Journal Staff Writer Placer County supervisors were given a glimpse into the dark world of methamphetamine Tuesday. Sheriff Ed Bonner described the spread of the drug as an all-encompassing problem that affects health-care systems, policing efforts and county budgets as well as individuals and families. Bonner said recent surveys indicated 12 million people have tried methamphetamine in the United States and there are 1.5 million regular users. Other estimates are that 60 percent to 90 percent of today's criminal activity is related to methamphetamine, he said. Police on the street and drug enforcement officers are saying methamphetamine is the biggest problem in the county. "The biggest thing we're dealing with are meth users," Bonner said. Bonner's remarks were part of a presentation on the drug and its impact on county services and the community that included a warning from 18-year-old former methamphetamine addict Jamie McCubbin of Auburn said that the drug is easy to obtain in Placer County and easy to get hooked on. McCubbin said that her dealer was little more than a phone call away and would make deliveries to her mailbox within minutes. Her first time smoking methamphetamine sent her on a six-month spiral downward, leaving her 30 pounds lighter, out of school and without the friends she once had. "I was hooked instantly after smoking it once," McCubbin said. McCubbin described a drug that is odorless, with smoke that dissipates quickly, and able to be smoked practically anywhere. At her dealer's, McCubbin said she was surprised at the parade of users who would arrive for a bag of meth. She said she saw businessmen, soccer moms, as well as fellow students she had no idea were also users. In then end, she entered a recovery program and has now been off the drug for two years. Her words underscored statistics from county Health Officer Dr. Richard Burton. He said methamphetamine is the No. 1 drug of choice for people going into addiction treatment with county services. The head count was over 600, he said. Burton also quoted a 2004 survey of Placer County high school students indicating 1 in 25 had used the drug. With other statistics that show 75 percent of meth users starting before age 21, Burton said that the success rate after treatment is 50 percent or more. "We need to look at how to best reach these individuals," Burton said. Bonner said that while the meth problem is growing, federal funding for coordinated drug enforcement in Placer County is shrinking. "This is a call to arms," Bonner said. "We need to talk about it and lift it up to the light of day. We need to do everything we can." The presentation was initiated by supervisors Bruce Kranz and Jim Holmes, who had attended seminars at county supervisor conventions on methamphetamine. They presented a video from a methamphetamine-fighting Montana project that told of successes with a saturation advertising campaign that warned teens to avoid the drug. McCubbin told supervisors that she didn't know the dangers of methamphetamine before trying it. That included police-sponsored D.A.R.E. drug avoidance classes in school that she said warned against marijuana, cocaine and heroin use. Asked by Supervisor Ted Gaines whether the sometimes-graphic avoidance messages in the Montana ads would have helped her steer away from using methamphetamine, McCubbin said that if she had seen them in middle school they would have made a huge difference. Kranz said the Montana campaign spent $5.2 million on advertising to reach 12- to 17-year-olds. "Meth has become a national crisis," Kranz said. "This can destroy a person's life if they even use it once. Once you use it, that's it. It's all over. You're hooked." The Journal's Gus Thomson can be reached at gust@goldcountrymedia.com.