Conference looks to combat meth

A combination of treatment, prevention, law enforcement and harm reduction is needed to combat the nation's methamphetamine problem.

That's according to organizers of the first-ever national health conference on meth being held at the Hilton in downtown Salt Lake City. The conference ends today.

SIZE="2">Meth's burden on Utah Generation Meth: In a six-part series last November, the Deseret Morning News examined how methamphetamine addiction and meth-related crime is burdening Utah courts, prisons and social services and devastating families.

An estimated 900 people traveling from as far away as Australia were expected to attend the conference, dubbed "Science and Response 2005" which has dealt with the problems of meth, HIV and hepatitis.

"This is about people looking for solutions," said Allan Clear, director of the Harm Reduction Coalition, the group that organized the two-day conference.

The conference comes a day after the Bush Administration announced it is committed to battling methamphetamine. It also comes on the heels of scathing comments made by Rep. Mark Souder, R-Indiana. Souder is also chair of a House Drug Police subcommittee.

Souder complained to House and Human Services Director Mike Leavitt about the department sponsoring the Salt Lake City conference. He claimed the Harm Reduction Coalition took a "soft" approach to drugs and actually had a pro-legalization agenda.

Thursday, the conference's organizers shot back.

"I vigorously disagree with Representative Souder," said a passionate Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson, whose opening remarks garnered a standing ovation.

Clear said he hopes that representatives from the Human Services Department will actually attend the conference next year.

"If I want to find out how to deal with methamphetamine, I'd rather listen to a medical expert from Harvard or a treatment counselor from Los Angeles than a senator from Kansas," he said.

Anderson further commented that the conference would look at "real solutions" for people who live in a "real world" because it's unreal for some politicians to believe you can "wave a magic wand" and make the problem disappear.

"Programs like the 'just say no' approach have been dismal failures," he said.

Luciano Colonna, executive director of the Harm Reduction Project added that the government has put too much of its focus on fighting meth into the supply side rather than demand.