The changing face of meth
By: Tamara Barak Aparton
Examiner Staff Writer
August 6, 2009
 |
| Seeking treatment: Tina Dannenbrink, left, and Amanda Alvarez, center, members of the Hope House drug treatment center, have a check-in session with Karen Francone, Director of the Service League Hope House in Redwood City. (Juan Carlos Pometta Betancourt/Special to The Examiner) |
REDWOOD CITY — Amanda Alvarez still recalls the bemused face of the smoke shop clerk the first time she browsed for meth pipes in her tidy career wear and tailored coat.
Alvarez, who is in residential treatment at Redwood City’s Hope House, has been sober for six months after a nine-year struggle with methamphetamine.
In the past, meth users seen by law enforcement have been typically blue-collar, lower- and middle-income men. Alvarez, the friendly 48-year-old mom, however, represents a growing demographic among methamphetamine abusers: women.
While the rates of methamphetamine abuse are holding steady, both in San Mateo County and nationally, a 2007 report by the National Association of Counties and funded by the U.S. Department of Justice found that the face of meth abuse is becoming both younger and more feminine.
The report, “The Changing Demographics of Methamphetamine,” surveyed sheriffs across the country. More than 60 percent reported increased use by women in the past three years. Nearly 50 percent said meth use had also increased among teens during the same period.
Marc Alcantara, commander of the San Mateo County Narcotics Task Force, said the rise of the glassy crystal meth over an opaque powder form of the drug may be responsible for the new crop of users.
“It’s been sanitized, if you will. It used to be associated with needles and injection, but with the influx of crystal meth, it’s clear and looks pure, and it can be smoked,” he said. “Of course, it’s still made up of Red Devil Lye, Freon and ephedrine.”
Before meth, Alvarez’s life had been defined by caring for others. Growing up in San Francisco, she says, she looked out for her six younger siblings. At 19, she started her own family, which would eventually include five children.
When she became addicted, she was working as an operations assistant for a San Francisco nonprofit. She and her children lived in a four-bedroom home in the Presidio.
With a house full of teenagers and a full-time job, Alvarez was overwhelmed.
When she started using meth, she was no longer tired. The stimulant helped her stay up and go to work the next morning.
“It gives you a false sense that you can do anything,” she said. “You can stay up, you can get anything accomplished. I didn’t need to eat. I didn’t need to sleep. But in the end, I didn’t accomplish anything.”
She kept it up for three years before everything collapsed. By the end of 2002, her hours were cut due to her slipping performance and frequent absences.
In 2003 she was laid off and lost her Presidio housing. Her children moved out, and she moved into a San Mateo motel. To support her addiction, she sold methamphetamine.
“I’ve seen people my kids’ age using it,” Alvarez said. “I’ve seen people older than me using it. People you would never think did drugs. Nothing shocks me anymore.”
In 2004, her then-boyfriend was pulled over for a broken taillight. Police found meth in her purse, and she was arrested for drug dealing.
The arrest was the beginning of a darker time for Alvarez — she was in and out of jail, went to state prison for four months, and dropped out of several drug treatment centers.
“I was empty,” she said. “I had no hope. I had no drive. I had nothing.”
After a suicide attempt, she entered Hope House. She is now clean, working to rebuild the bonds with her children and looking for meaningful work.
Karen Francone, director of the Service League of San Mateo County, which runs Hope House and other drug treatment centers, said methamphetamine has edged out other drugs as the substance of choice for her clients.
“It’s at epidemic levels,” Francone said. “It really seems to bring folks down a lot quicker. Their lives are in shambles at a lot quicker rate.”
While most of Hope House clients are referred through the criminal justice system, experts say it’s hard to gauge the true demographics of meth users, since in families with financial means or good insurance it can be treated as a personal problem.
Nevertheless, Hope House has treated plenty of professionals, Francone said, including nurses, dental assistants, bookkeepers, office managers and waitresses.
The demographics of meth also include older users.
Marcia Avila, director of drug and alcohol treatment at Pyramid Alternatives in Pacifica, said in her current class of clients, there is an age range from 18 to nearly 60.
Recently, a 74-year-old Burlingame woman was arrested for methamphetamine possession. Although Margaret Catherine Cataldo was on probation for a previous meth charge at the time of her arrest, the judge in the case declared a mistrial May 29 after jurors deadlocked, and prosecutors decided not to retry the case. The senior citizen said a visitor left the drug without her knowledge.
“She was such an unlikely defendant. Looking at her, you just would have never believed it,” San Mateo County Assistant District Attorney Karen Guidotti said.
While most drug defendants in San Mateo County are male, the gender balance is close to 50-50 when it comes to meth, Guidotti said.
Young woman’s story indicative of drug’s toll
Tina Dannenbrink was 18 when her then-boyfriend introduced her to the drug. Like others, Dannenbrink at first viewed meth as a helpful jolt of energy for her harried life. The teenager was working two jobs, in a video store and a sporting goods store, as well as attending college classes in business administration with an emphasis in criminal justice.
“I thought I would just use a little of it to stay awake,” she said.
Dannenbrink, who has been in the Hope House residential treatment program in Redwood City for a month, represents two of the quickly growing demographics of meth users: women and young people.
Karen Francone, director of the Service League of San Mateo County, which operates Hope House, said she has seen the demographics of meth shift in her 17 years working with addicts.
“We see a lot of younger men and women now, a really high concentration,” she said.
Meth was unlike any other drug, Dannenbrink said. She lost both her jobs and her college enrollment due to frequent absences. She was evicted from her apartment, and began simply staying up most nights. When she needed to crash, she went to a friend’s house.
Eventually, she and other meth users began squatting in a San Francisco warehouse. For a short time she pulled herself out of the addiction and began working with her stepfather at his construction business. But then she began injecting the drug, and quickly became homeless again.
Then, she got arrested for selling meth to an undercover cop in a sting by the San Mateo County Narcotics Task Force.
She spent a year in San Mateo County Jail, not using meth. After her release, her probation officer helped get her into Hope House.
Dannenbrink, now 25, says she has more hope than she has had in a long time. She is learning to manage her anger and learning vocational skills. Though she has a job waiting for her at the construction company, Dannenbrink says she’d like to go back to college.
Demographic shift
The percentage of counties nationwide that are reporting a change in users:
61 percent
Increase for women
36 percent
Increase for minorities
49 percent
Increase for teens
Source: National Association of Counties, The Meth Epidemic: The Changing Demographics of Methamphetamine, August 2007
Seizing drugs
Meth seized by San Mateo County Narcotics Task Force, by fiscal year, in pounds:
2002-03 20.50
2003-04 42.30
2004-05 11.96
2005-06 51.19
2006-07 25.45
2007-08 33.52
2008-09 16.00
Source: San Mateo County Narcotics Task Force
More arrests for meth
Meth-related investigations and arrests by task force:
Year Probes Arrests
2006-07 44 28
2007-08 45 54
2008-09 37 57
Source: San Mateo County Narcotics Task Force
tbarak@sfexaminer.com
