"It's like that (treatment) clock goes really slow and the other clock (court) goes really fast. It doesn't give people a lot of time," he said.

More treatment beds and expanded drug courts would give parents the chance to get into the program without losing critical time.

Another key to combating meth abuse is cooperation among criminal justice, corrections, treatment, housing, vocational rehabilitation and child welfare.

The Salt Lake Meth Initiative has been recognized as one of the more innovative programs in the country. It brought law enforcement and treatment providers to the same table for the first time. It helped pass drug-endangered child legislation, increase public awareness of the meth problem and fostered creation of a women and children's treatment center.

Still to be pursued, initiative director Marjean Searcy said, is research on how meth exposure effects children, strategies to slow the meth trade and leveraging prevention and training dollars.

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Coming Sunday

Almost everyone has a methamphetamine story.

The six-day series, "Generation Meth," elicited an outpouring of e-mails, telephone calls and letters from readers.

Some used. Others know someone who uses. And some have seen how the drug can snuff out a promising life.

On Sunday, the Deseret Morning News will publish some of their responses, including the story of a family coping with the death of a young mother.

The paper will also briefly look at a meth-related crime that happened within the past couple of weeks, underscoring the state's meth epidemic.

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E-mail: romboy @desnews.com; lucy@desnews.com