The Faces Of Meth

It's a drug that's so destructive - the downward spiral into addiction is evident in simple police mug shots.

It's a drug that can be made with ingredients from the local pharmacy and cooked in home labs - putting whole neighborhoods in danger.

It's three times as powerful as cocaine and just one hit can give a 12-hour high. It is methamphetamine - known as "meth" for short. And now, it's being called an epidemic, CBS News Correspondent Jim Acosta reports.

Carla George is a recovering addict -- who was hooked on meth for 12 years.

"I felt invincible like I could do anything," George tells Acosta.

"It was great in the beginning," George says laughing. "But it progressively got worse. It got to be where I couldn't function without it.

"I made really poor choices when I was on it," George intimates. "I have three children, and with my two daughters I, I used through both of my pregnancies with them."

George admits, "I've had guns pointed to my head. I've been in other risky, unsafe situations, and my children have been there with me through these occurrences."

Asked if she's been to jail, George answered affirmatively. "A lot. Yeah. I went to jail 42 times."

Methamphetamine is not a new drug. It's been around for decades. A weaker version of today's meth was actually used by the Federal Government during World War II to keep American forces on the move. For years, you could find it in diet drugs. A key ingredient continues to be used in many cold medications.

And even with today's new-found concerns, a government study shows that while 1.3 million Americans use meth - that's just a fraction of the number of people using pot or cocaine.

So why did a survey of the nation's counties last month find almost 60 percent of local officials declaring meth as their biggest drug problem?

Methamphetamine first appeared in the West. So we went to Oregon's state capital of Salem - where officials have learned a few lessons about the meth epidemic.

"When you talk to somebody who's used a variety of drugs or been addicted to a number of drugs, they will tell you that the meth high is a cut above the rest. It's, it's a better thing," Jay Wurscher says.

Wurscher has worked with drug offenders for 26 years and he manages Oregon's Child Welfare Addiction Services.

"Is it an epidemic or is it hype? And we have more meth addicts than we've probably ever had. Methamphetamine is a drug that has a higher addictive liability than just about anything we've seen," Wurscher explains.

"It's a fact that methamphetamine is the most dangerous drug we've ever had in terms of child welfare and child safety. There's nothing as dangerous to kids as methamphetamine is," Wurscher adds.

When Acosta asks if meth is worse than crack, Wurscher replies bluntly, "Absolutely, absolutely."

The drug is costing communities in ways never felt before. For one thing, home labs expose children to explosive chemicals, and meth addicts often sleep for days leaving even babies to fend for themselves.

"This is the most destructive drug ever known to us," Salem sheriff Raul Ramirez says.

Ramirez says his jail is filling up with meth users. Meth-related arrests in Oregon have doubled in the past five years. But, Ramirez cautions the impact of the drug can't be measured in just numbers. It's the toll it takes on users and everyone around them.

"You can see the devastation that's occurring out there. These individuals are in jail now. A lot of them have lost their families, their homes, their jobs. You know, their self-respect of who they are," Ramirez says.

Take 29-year-old Wendy Webster.

"I have been coming in and out of jails and institutions since I was probably 13 because of my drug use," Webster says.

In 2000, when Webster was sent to prison, her 7-year-old son was taken away permanently.

When she's released this time, Wendy insists she's getting treatment to stop for good.

"I am so tired of coming in and out of here. I have no life. I want to have a home some day. I want a family some day," Webster says.

That isn't the story you'll hear from Jose Estrada, who says he's realistic about what will happen when he's released.

Acosta: Do you think you'll start using again?

Estrada: To tell you the truth. I ain't gonna lie to you. Probably. But you know I don't want to.

Acosta: You probably will start using again?

Estrada: That's just the truth. I ain't gonna lie, you know.

"They're at their weakest point in their life when they're addicted to methamphetamine," Ramirez says.

Is the solution to just lock meth users up and throw away the key, Acosta asks?

"Well and that, and that is not the answer. And we've learned that over the years that it has to be a balanced approach. You have to have enforcement and the accountability piece, but you also need to have treatment as part of that effort to address the problem," Ramirez explains.

Drug treatment is often unavailable behind bars. Either way, Carla George says it's a hard place to clean up your act.

"It worked for me to get clean time. But, it didn't teach me anything I needed to know. Because what happened when I went to prison is I was in there with everybody who's like me," George says.

Jay Wurscher says it's time to look behind these "faces of meth."

"When you think of somebody who's a meth addict, you typically think of the media stories," Wurscher says. "You think of crime. You think of the child abuse. You think of child neglect. And then you meet a human being who's a meth addict. And who you meet is a human being."

"I was so far down in my life at that time that nothing else mattered but the drug itself," George says.

To see what the drug can do to families we followed two parole officers as they make surprise home visits with meth users. Our first stop: a family on the edge.

The parents were arrested for violating their probation after our visit.

But notice the difference at the next home where an addict has turned the corner.

"I'm not going to undersell the problems that meth causes," Wurscher says. "But, I think we need to oversell that this is a solvable problem. These people can recover.

Wurscher says a war on meth is unnecessary. "I hope that this country declares a war on addiction," Wurscher says.

"It's a social disease more than anything right now. And it's spreading," Oregon governor Ted Kulongoski says.

Kulongoski took aim at his state's meth problem earlier this month by signing the first law in the nation requiring a prescription for pseudoephedrine, a key ingredient in over-the-counter decongestants.

It's also what's needed to make methamphetamine at home.

"The pharmaceutical companies can make this stuff without pseudophedrine. I think the federal government has to tell the pharmaceutical companies to stop this," Kulongoski says.

In fact, one drugmaker, Pfizer, has already come out with Sudafed PE which contains no pseudoephedrine. Still pending is federal legislation that would control access to cold medications with pseudoephedrine.

All the same, most experts agree that it really comes down to treatment. Oregon recently increased funding for meth addiction therapy, but fewer than 20 percent of users who need treatment actually get it.
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Acosta: There are those who are saying maybe Oregon isn't doing enough for treatment. Do you think more could be done?

Kulongoski: Oh no. There's no question about it. Let me suggest something. And the public yet isn't sensitive to the meth addict. They still see it as more of a criminal. And whether there's much, the word isn't sympathy but concern for these people.

Which brings us to this man: Dennis Graves, a non-judgmental Salem judge who runs a different sort of drug court, one where defendants are offered a chance to try treatment instead of jail.

It's a different kind of court, Acosta observes.

"It is. And I think as you saw today, even you see me applauding people, you can see me holding people accountable," Graves says.

Most people that filter through Graves' courtroom rarely receive pats on the back. "They probably get more cuffs behind the back," Graves says.

"When somebody uses it's a ripple effect," George says. "It affects everybody around them. So the same thing happens when they get clean and stop using and get into recovery. It's a ripple effect.

Carla George has been clean and drug-free for nine years now. She's regained custody of her children, remarried and found a new job: working with meth addicts.

"I love it. I love being able to give back. I've taken from the community for a really long time," George says. "My life is really full and really busy. And I'm really grateful."

She too is one of "the faces of meth" - one of hope.

George adds, "Since I've gotten clean, my life has just progressively improved in every aspect. I mean I never would have dreamed that my life could be this good. As good as it is."