Demand increases for CPO's meth training

Community Partnership of the Ozarks is addressing the issue with a meth awareness training program that is now being looked to as a model for other states.

“The state of Montana is interested in paying us to come out and consult with them on how we did what we’re doing down here,” said Melissa Haddow, executive director of Community Partnership.

“I don’t know where we’ll find the time,” she said with a laugh, “but it’s exciting nonetheless.”

Time is an issue because just the local demand for the training is “extraordinary,” Haddow said. The program is proving to be its own best advertising.

“Every time we do a training, it leads to more training,” Haddow said. For example, a program for physicians, held at Ozarks Technical Community College, so impressed OTC President Norman Myers that he now wants his staff to be trained.

Established cooperatively with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, Springfield Police, Greene County Sheriff’s Office and Springfield-Greene County Health Department, the training program is presented on PowerPoint.

To date, Haddow said, more than 1,000 people have been trained on meth lab indicators, how to report a lab and what it takes to clean up a contaminated property.

Another emphasis, particularly for landlords, is doing background checks to avoid renting to meth cooks.

“It’s cheaper for them not to rent than to rehab one of these places,” Haddow said. “It can be extraordinarily expensive to fix a property once it’s been contaminated.”

It takes the whole community to stop the problem, Haddow said.

“That’s going to take everyone knowing what to look for and reporting it,” she added. “This is not just happening in the impoverished areas of town, this is happening all over.”

Community Partnership is distributing brochures and door hangers that give the signs of meth manufacture and how to report it.

Contact Community Partnership of the Ozarks at (417) 888-2020 or visit www.nometh.org.

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