Methamphetamine is at the root of one out of three crimes in Kern County, and tomorrow, county mental health officials will present the Kern County Board of Supervisors with some proposals to do something about it.
Methamphetamine is cheap, accessible and most kids get hooked before they reach high school. The county wants to wage a war on the drug by using all hands on deck. A 18-year-old named Ryane at Teen Challenge thinks the county is making a good move by trying to target a young audience.
"It turns you into this person you don't want to be," Ryane told 17 News.
She started using methamphetamine when she was 11 years old. For seven years she has tried to kick the habit but couldn't until she came to Teen Challenge rehabilitation center three months ago.
"It's hard to break that addiction," Ryane explained. "I've tried to break it several times, and this is the first thing that's worked," she said of Teen Challenge.
Dr. James Waterman is Director of the Kern County Mental Health Department. He says the drug is cheap and highly accessible.
"It can be manufactured in a coke bottle," Dr. Waterman said. "No longer do two people have to have a meth lab out somewhere in a house."
Also, the deadly drug can hurt more than just the addict.
"39% of all felony cases are involved in methamphetamine" Kern County Mental Health official Lily Alvarez said. "Bakersifeld Police--in all their encounters and phone calls about 20% of them involve methamphetamine in some way or another."
Alvarez and Waterman will propose community leaders like law enforcement and rehabilitation groups come together to help tackle addictions before they start. They will also encourage drug-free work programs and education programs Former methamphetamine addict Rannie thinks that's the only way to beat the drug.
"If someone would've came with my life story and showed me that, I would've never done it," Rannie said with tears in her eyes.
Back in September, Rannie told 17 News how out of control she was on the drug. "When I would use the drug, I would pull out my hair," she said. "So I had to shave my head."
Rannie has been clean now for a full year, and is working her way through training to teach others about how methamphetamine destroyed 25 years of her life. The Board of Supervisors will hear the proposal in full Tuesday morning. Dr. Waterman says this won't happen overnight, and it's just one of many steps the county plans to take to battle the drug.
