HELP MAMa, lawmen working to eliminate meth labs

KENANSVILLE, N.C. - Community members and lawmen in the east are working to stop a drug trend from growing into the New Year.

Methamphetamine has plagued counties across the east where users cook up dangerous meth labs.

Community members in Duplin County are trying to put a stop to it.

The group is called HELP MAMa, short for Mothers Against Methamphetamine.

Sheriff Blake Wallace said everyone in eastern Carolina needs to pay attention to Duplin County’s meth lab problem, because it’s everyone’s problem, “Drugs are the gas that fuel the crime engine and so we take drug abuse and the sale of illegal drugs very seriously."

Wallace said deputies busted 15 meth labs in Duplin County last year. That's up slightly from 13 in 2010.

He pulled the numbers from surrounding counties and found in 2011, Sampson County busted 11 meth labs, Johnston County had 12, and Wayne County deputies discovered 22 meth labs.

Most of them, Wallace said, are one pot meth labs, where users cook the highly explosive drug in two liter bottles while driving around, “In fact, in some ways, the one pot method is more dangerous. The cooking process is more dangerous than with the larger lab."

Wallace said meth users don't care about county lines. If someone's making the drug in one county they can easily drive it over to another nearby.

"Folks are fooling themselves if they think that there's not an issue in their county. You know, it's an issue in all parts of eastern North Carolina and you know I think the best way to deal with it is deal with it head on and address it directly," said Wallace.

Wallace said the sheriff's office relies on community groups like Help MAMA to spread drug prevention and awareness in the community.

Mothers Against Methamphetamine is partnering with law enforcement in Duplin County to stop the drug trend from growing.

They’re spreading the message year-round.

Drive any where in Duplin County and you'll see the signs.

Help MAMa is posting them around neighborhoods and especially in front of schools like Grady Elementary, because one of their main goals is to stop a young meth user before they start.

HELP MAMa Board Member Karen Scalf said she’s seen it firsthand, “Children have been turned into thieves and robbers and child abusers where before they were just coming from good families."

That's why she joined D.L. Scott's Duplin County chapter of Help MAMa, part of the national organization Mothers Against Methamphetamine.

"HELP stands for healing through education, love and prayer," said D.L. Scott, HELP MAMa Chapter President. HELP MAMa educates children on the dangers of meth and other drugs like alcohol and marijuana that kids might think are harmless. "But they are stepping stones to more addictive drugs that's going to cause them to be in a mortuary if they continue to use them."

The group's 11 members give presentations, show drug prevention videos and rally support at PTO meetings.

They visit art classes at local schools and students create their own drug prevention signs. It's a way to reach them before it’s too late.

"When you see children that used to be in school that are now walking down the road, trying to get to the next drug dealer's house, then you understand that child doesn't have much of a future," said Scott.

He said it isn't always easy. The non-profit scrapes together donations to support their campaign and sometimes their signs are stolen or vandalized.

"I guess that's something you can't do. We can't quit," said Scott. They can't quit, because they feel the community's future is in their hands. "Drugs erase dreams.  That's the best thing I know to tell you, drugs erase dreams."

HELP MAMa of Duplin County has expanded its mission of drug prevention to rehabilitation.

Anyone can call the number on their signs and a member will recommend local rehab centers.

That number is 252-560-7171.