Addiction to meth targeted in Utah

State and county officials announced Monday a new statewide methamphetamine initiative in Utah, including the formation of a joint task force to combat the ever growing problem.

Additional information: Generation Meth, our six-part series examining the effects and impact of meth use.

"We need a cooperative, multiprong approach," Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. said prior to the task force's first meeting at the First Step House, 411 N. Grant St. (740 West), a drug rehabilitation facility.

The task force, which is comprised of law enforcement officials, county commissioners, substance abuse directors, attorneys and other state and county officers, will promote legislation to fund drug courts as well as discuss treatment programs, law enforcement response, education and prevention issues.

Despite some successes in the past, Huntsman said the meth problem continues to grow and is not a problem that can be solved strictly through law enforcement or treatment.

"We need a coordinated response that addresses all these issues," he said. "You cannot incarcerate your way out of this problem."

It costs Salt Lake County about $15,000 a year to treat each meth addict placed in family treatment, according to statistics from the state and county. In comparison, it costs $27,000 to incarcerate that same person and an additional $33,000 if that person has a child that needs to be placed in foster care.

Meth has been the No. 1 illegal drug of choice for patients admitted to public substance-abuse treatment programs in Utah since 2001, according to the Utah Division of Substance Abuse and Mental Health.

"It is the singular most destructive, insidious drug we deal with," said Scott Burns, deputy director of state and local affairs for the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy and a former Iron County attorney. "The key has to be prevention and education."

Rodney Symes, the director of outpatient services at the First Step Home and a licensed substance-abuse counselor, is a former addict who lost everything and was facing possible time in federal prison before he was able to turn his life around.

"From my first use I was hooked," he said of his addiction. "All I could think about was how and when I would get high next."

Symes would miss family functions to purchase drugs or get high. His wife eventually told him he was no longer welcome in their home, he said. He had no desire to go to work and turned to theft so he could continue financing his drug habit.

Today, Symes feels there is a place for both incarceration and treatment in helping a person kick their drug habit.