I recently attended a great power point program dealing with the meth problem in our area presented by Adams County First Assistant State's Attorney Gary Farha. He was assisted by Illinois State Police Master Sgt. Pat Frazier from the Adams County Drug Task Force. Also attending were Quincy Police Department’s Nick Hiland and Cody Cook of the Illinois State Police. Sgt. Frazier discussed the severity of the problem and mentioned that cartels in Mexico are now producing ICE meth, which is now showing up in our area.

The problem is all about money according to Frazier with a good deal of the supplies now coming from the Kansas City area. Frazier said we are seeing less cocaine usage in the area, but meth is escalating. Medical marijuana is also a problem as people are getting it from Colorado legally and bringing it to Illinois and Missouri.

Meanwhile, if you seem to think that Adams County is really bad with meth use, it isn’t any different than other areas, according to Farha. The difference, according to Farha and Frazier, is that the officers in this area are more knowledgeable and aggressive in dealing with the problem.

The program also featured pictures of people on meth before and after they use it. It is such a dramatic difference. A twenty-year-old can look like he or she is 80 years old with extended use of meth.

So when you get right down to it, if you take the money out of the drug business, it will go away. But how do you do that? That's the multi-million dollar question.

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