Meth Wars: The Effects On Small Towns

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Meth Wars: The Effects On Small Towns

Dan Garcia

Story Created: May 8, 2007 at 4:30 PM CST

Story Updated: Mar 24, 2008 at 12:52 PM CST

"I just went through the jail roster and 68 of those 90 are in here for direct drug related offenses." That's what Montague County Sheriff Bill Keating says about the number of known users in jail and still at large is extreme. With a population only around 20,000, Keating says they're still watching another 107 active subjects not in jail. 

"With budgeting constraints in smaller counties, there aren't that many of us to go around." Said Keating.  He also says the county only has eight deputies available to work the 940 square miles. That's just over 75% the size of the state of Rhode Island. "It's tough. Every county with a small population and a large geographical area that does not have an outside source of income, it's tough. It's tough on every one of us."

That's why Montague County has to rely heavily on the North Texas Drug Task Force. Keating says without the task force, it would be physically impossible for counties like Montague to clean up after meth productions. Now the county is trying to stop the problem, before it even starts by working with schools. Doyle reynolds works for Star Council, a state funded agency designed to help students make better decisions. When it comes to affording drugs, he says meth is vasty different. "What you don't understand is even though we're talking about money, the drug world, and people wanting to be entrepreneurs to make money with drugs-- in Montague County, it really doesn't take money."

All these students need is the ability to get the key ingredients. Reynolds says they usually work together to create the meth. And they don't have to go far to learn how it's made. "They learn this from older siblings. And it's sad to say, a bunch of these kids learn this from adults."

Reynolds says the key to the problem is to teach the students about the effects of meth before they ever try the drug. He says the best way to battle the war on meth is to take it one day at time.

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