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| 1 November 2000 - The San Diego Union-Tribune Use of meth among women climbs sharply, study finds Role as appetite suppressant may be part of allure By Kristen Green Farrah Mason was 13 and extremely overweight when she first smoked methamphetamine. She found she wasn't hungry when she used it, and she immediately started shedding pounds. On top of that, the drug gave her boundless energy. "I was addicted after the first time," said Mason, of Oceanside. A study released yesterday shows that women arrested in San Diego County have tested positive for methamphetamine with greater frequency than men since 1995. According to statistics from the Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring Program, 38 percent of women arrested in San Diego County in 1999 tested positive for methamphetamine, compared with 25 percent of men. A similar urinalysis program conducted on teen-agers entering juvenile detention this year between January and June found that 33 percent of girls tested positive for the drug, compared with 6 percent of the boys. The numbers were part of an annual report released yesterday by the San Diego County Methamphetamine Strike Force, formed in 1996 to battle the drug's grip on the county. Experts say methamphetamine appeals to women because it increases energy and acts as an appetite suppressant. "It meets all the promises at first," said Richard Bradway, director of the EYE/Family Recovery Center in Oceanside. The residential portion of the recovery center he directs is a 90-bed facility for women who are either pregnant or are mothers, and 85 percent of the clients are addicted to methamphetamine, he said. Mason, now 23 and a mother of three, is living there and trying to get custody of her infant daughter and her 5-year-old. Her 2-year-old has been removed permanently from her care. Clean for six months, Mason said her daughters were taken from her after she admitted she used the drug multiple times every day. "I've been paying a lot of consequences for using," she said. The Methamphetamine Strike Force members are concerned about the drug's growing appeal to young women, said Susan Pennell, director of the San Diego Association of Governments' criminal justice research. "For too long we've ignored girls and women, and part of that lack of attention is that more men enter the criminal justice system and they get all the attention," Pennell said. The report released yesterday also looks at general statistics about methamphetamine use in the county. It shows the number of deaths from methamphetamine use has dropped 36 percent since 1995. During the same period, drug treatment admissions were up 10 percent while the number of arrests for methamphetamine sales and possession are up 23 percent. San Diego Police Department Lt. Bob Kanaski said the narcotics task force he heads will explore why so many women are testing positive for methamphetamine. "It's surprising to us," he said. 'We don't know why that increased usage occurs." But Capt. Larry Moratto, who supervises narcotics investigations for the San Diego Police Department, said metharnphetamine has long been just as popular among women as it is among men. He hasn't seen any "skyrocketing use" by women, he said. "Women have been using meth for a long time," Moratto said. "I don't think that's a big revelation." Article Snapshot (29K) |
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