There was a time just a couple of years ago when Wright County was in the middle of a methamphetamine epidemic that was sweeping through the county. A coordinated effort was developed to attack the problem by incorporating law enforcement, school districts, local government and the public to stand up to the scourge of meth. Two years later, while not completely obliterated, the methamphetamine problem is not only diminishing, it is shrinking at a dramatic rate. "This is a true success story," Sheriff Gary Miller said. "The residents of the county stood up to the meth problem and got the word out how dangerous and addictive this drug is. "Two years ago, about 80 percent or more of the prisoners in our jail were there for reasons related to meth – whether it be the manufacture, sale or use of the drug or committing crimes in order to pay for it. That number has dropped sharply and we see almost no prisoners coming in now on meth-related charges." Former county commissioner Karla Heeter was one of the leaders of the MEADA group – the Methamphetamine Education and Drug Awareness Coalition of Wright County – which became a blueprint for other counties and cities to follow. Public mobilization was the key to the group’s success, she said. "We started on the fourth floor conference room of the courthouse with ideas, but no idea whether we would be successful or not," Heeter said. "The educational component of our work was vital, because we were able to get groups from throughout the county energized to help. The biggest plus, however, was getting the Sudafed legislation passed." Heeter and others testified before the State Legislature to get over-the-counter drugs like Sudafed, which contain a key ingredient in the manufacturing of methamphetamine, put behind the counter so only limited quantities of the drug could be purchased. That simple move cracked the foundation of the meth manufacturing business and made it considerably more difficult for the makers of meth to get the ingredients they needed. Heeter – who earned the nickname "The Meth Queen" for her visible stance – said, like the users of the drug, it consumed much of her life for a while . "I was speaking to groups two, three or four times a week," she said. "At one point, meth was my life – and I never used the drug." The meth problem has been reduced to such an extent that MEADA puts most of its current focus on problems related to alcohol because the methamphetamine threat has been so greatly reduced or eliminated. Miller said the war isn’t over, but in this instance the cooperation of law enforcement and the public shined a light on the issue and sent the manufacturers scurrying like cockroaches in another direction. "I’m not ready to say we’ve won the war on meth or that we have ‘Mission Accomplished,’" Miller said. "But we have seen what can happen when the public and the police work together to educate our children about the dangers of these drugs, how to spot a user and to work together to get them out of our communities. "We have been able to neutralize the spread of meth in Wright County. Hopefully, when the next drug comes along that is introduced to our area – and there will be ones coming, there always are – it is gratifying to know that we can mobilize the public to fight the problem and win the war on drugs. "This has been a case study of how that can be accomplished and there should be a lot of people proud of what they were able to do to get rid of what was a drug problem that was an epidemic."
