Every community and region is fighting methamphetamine on their own "battlefront" so to speak, and without exception, they're doing an admirable job.  On what's often a volunteer basis, community coalitions and task forces put in a great deal of time and effort in the areas of education, awareness and prevention.  Local newspapers also do their part in keep their readership informed of local developments in the meth issue.

However, the problem is, there's an assumption within every community battling meth that they're in a "vacuum," separate and unconnected and unaffected by other areas or regions.  And the truth is, nothing could be further from the truth.  Just imagine this scenario, because it accurately reflects how "war" on meth is currently being waged, and why, unless some things change, it will be lost:

Imagine you were fighting in a war, and you had a thousand other soldiers in your army. And each soldier was responsible for fighting the enemy within an area of a thousand square yards. And while a few of the soldiers spoke to each other occasionally, most kept to themselves, focusing on the battle going on within their thousand square yard "zone of responsibility."  This represents the individual communities battling meth.

Now imagine your enemy in this war. There are only a hundred of them, so you have them outnumbered ten to one. However the difference is that every member of their 100 man army is in regular contact with each other and has an extremely good sense of what every other "soldier" on their side is doing.  They learn from each other's successes and more importantly, they learn from each other's failures and mistakes. They have good communication, which means they have good coordination.  This represents the organizations distributing meth throughout North America (and elsewhere.)

So which side do you think is going to win the war? Because this is how the "war on cocaine" was waged, and we lost that one - that's now an undisputed fact.  And this is precisely how we're "waging war" on methamphetamine.

A Case In Point - "Strawberry Meth"

Just look at the "strawberry meth" or "strawberry quick" issue.  Ninety-five per cent of the time it's shown up in a community over the past seven or eight months, the community was more or less taken by surprise, and had to react very quickly.  Even now, in May 2007, almost eight months later, there are still communities that are being alerted to it.  But how could that be?  Regular visitors to our site knew about it eight months ago, they knew what direction it was moving in, and they knew exactly what to be on the lookout for.  They were able to act proactively and warn the young people in their area before it arrived, not after.

But we're just one site, and as much as we'd like to reach everyone, we simply don't.  And the only way that can really happen is if at the very least, we keep every community updated on what's going on.  And that's precisely the situation we want to address with The Meth Education News Update.

Once a month, we will update you on all the new developments with respect to methamphetamine and how it might affect what's happening in your community.  And for your added convenience, we're dividing it in to the following sections:

• Community issues (awareness, education, prevention, HIV & meth, etc.)
• First responder issues
• Treatment issues
• National issues
• Research issues
• Legislative/Judicial/Enforcement Issues

The goal here is twofold.  First, it's obvious that everyone involved in the methamphetamine issue must have the most current, accurate information available, that's more or less a "no-brainer."  It's too serious a drug and too pressing an issue to rely on two year old studies, irrelevant surveys and outdated information.  If you're not updating your information on methamphetamine at least monthly, your information is outdated and that's just a fact.

But secondly, and just as important, it's critical that each type of stakeholder in the meth issue has an appreciation for the other "pieces of the puzzle," and has the ability to see their situation within the context of the big picture.  If not, then putting a measurable dent in the meth problem in your area is going to be like trying to nail Jello to a wall - .  it keeps you busy, but at the end of the day, nothing really sticks.  And we know this it true because that's how "the war on cocaine" was handled and we've already lost that war.

And It Means Hearing From You

We will also encourage everyone receiving the newsletter to participate in the actual content.  There's a lot of experience, wisdom, insight and pure knowledge out there and we want to begin sharing it among everyone concerned.

And for those community coalitions and task forces that wish to have links to their sites included each month, all they have to do is send us the URL and it will be included.  And just like on our web site, we will also not be accepting any advertising within the newsletter whatsoever, so you won't be bothered by pop ups or other ads glaring at you.  However, if you have a community event or initiative that you wish to announce with respect to drug prevention, awareness or education, we'd be happy to include that in the newsletter.

It's About Coordination & Working Toward A Common Objective

In short, the objective with the The Meth Education News Update is to bring some coordination and unity to the situation so that everyone fighting meth on a community level is at least aware of and connected to other communities with a common objective.  We really can learn from each other, and there's much to learn.

Your one year subscription (12 issues) to The Regional Meth Newsletter is only $ 85.00, and when necessary, we will also be issuing bulletins when an issue emerges that we feel the readership at large should know about immediately.  The bottom-line is that you will have an efficient and economical way of staying completely current on a drug that is constantly changing from a variety of perspectives.  And it will enable you to act proactively, versus reactively which is inherently a more effective position.  We think you'll be hard pressed to find a better return on investment.

We're in the year 2007, and we truly do "have the technology." The days of being out of the "information loop" because of your size, budget, or geographical location are over. And the days of receiving flawed information on a second-hand basis, or having to rely on studies with outdated data, or questionable "surveys" are also over.

The immediacy of our times combined with the urgency of the meth problem in so many regions and communities throughout the world means employing new and more effective tools for collecting, analyzing, and sharing information.

Clearly, the action and implementation to address the meth problem has to be done within each single community, by the people actually living in that community.  But the solutions, the insight and the wisdom can and should come from every community.  And that's what the The Meth Education News Update, it's really all about.  "The whole becoming greater than the sum of the parts."

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens

can change the world."  Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has."

Margaret Mead

To purchase your subscription to The Meth Education News Update, please click the subscribe button below.

 

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If you have questions, comments or suggestions regarding The International Collaboration, or The Meth Education News Update, we'd be delighted to hear from you.  Please click HERE.