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01-29-07 Release: Anti-meth coalition to host community workshops Feb. 1 and 15

Date:        January 29, 2007
Contact:   Brent Stockwell Assistant to Mayor/Council (480) 312-7288

The Northeast Valley Coalition Against Methamphetamine will host a series of two workshops from 4-6 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 1, and Thursday, Feb. 15, at the Granite Reef Senior Center, 1700 N. Granite Reef Rd., in Scottsdale. The center is located one mile west of the Loop 101/Pima Freeway, just north of McDowell Road on Granite Reef Road. The workshops are open to the public.

The Northeast Valley Coalition Against Methamphetamine is a local effort to coordinate a community-based response to the methamphetamine problem. The Coalition includes the communities of Carefree, Cave Creek, Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation, Fountain Hills, Paradise Valley, Salt River-Pima Maricopa Indian Community and Scottsdale.

Coalition members have been working for the past nine months studying the problems caused by methamphetamine use in the Northeast Valley. The findings will be shared at the workshop and participants will have the opportunity to develop strategies for attacking these problems. There will also be brief presentations to help participants better understand the problem of overall methamphetamine use.

Some methamphetamine problems the coalition is addressing include:

  • Addicts engage in a high rate of identity theft and fraud in the Northeast Valley to pay for their drug use.
  • Female addicts are more likely to engage in fraud and identity theft to pay for their drug use.
  • Male addicts commit a high number of burglaries in the Northeast Valley to pay for their meth use.
  • Addicts' unpredictable and erratic behavior potentially increases the violence towards victims, law enforcement personnel and emergency services providers.
  • Maricopa County, overall, has an average age of first-time users that is significantly earlier than the national average.
  • There is no centralized, current or comprehensive collection of meth treatment and education resource information accessible to Northeast Valley residents.

Additional information is online at http://www.scottsdaleaz.gov/safety/drugs/.

To attend the workshops, participants should contact Danise Riley, City of Scottsdale, at (480) 312-2209. For more information regarding the coalition or the workshops, contact Brent Stockwell at (480) 312-7288 or BStockwell@ScottsdaleAZ.gov .

 

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