UNITED AGAINST METH. Cherokee County Commission Chairman Melvyn Salter presents District Attorney Mike O’Dell and Investigator Josh Summerford with a copy of a proclamation recognizing August as Zero Meth Month in Cherokee. Also pictured are Cherokee County employees in their Zero Meth T-Shirts which they will wear each Friday during August to show their support for the campaign.
Commissioner Kimball Parker read the resolution during a recent meeting. The resolution noted that nearly 85 percent of all crimes committed in the community today are meth related.
Methamphetamine, as stated in the resolution, is responsible for traumatic increases in child abuse and domestic violence locally, with approximately 80 percent of foster care children coming from homes where methamphetamine is manufactured and used.
Meth is made of some of the most toxic substances known to mankind, including Coleman Fuel, Red Devil Lye, Iodine, Ammonia, Liquid Drano, Clorox, Kerosene and battery acid, as shared in the resolution.
Methamphetamine now threatens the welfare of our children by putting children at risk who live in homes of meth users or manufacturers. Statistics show that only 15 percent of chronic meth users can be rehabilitated.
District Attorney O’Dell, according to the resolution, launched the Zero Meth Campaign to educate teens and young adults about the deadly consequences of Meth use and to prevent them from ever becoming users of this highly addictive drug.
Dekalb County, as explained by Cherokee County Commission Chairman Melvyn Salter, adopted a similar resolution.
Citizens and county employees are urged to wear Zero Meth t-shirts each Friday during the month of August.
“This is a worthwhile project,” said Salter. “It has been taking place for a good bit of time now.”
O’Dell, Salter explained, also requested permission to design a ZeroMeth sign and attach the sign to the rural transportation bus which serves Cherokee County residents which has also been done in Dekalb County. There would be no cost to the County.
The commission gave its approval and Salter will sign off on it once he checks with the Alabama Agency on Aging to be sure placing of the sign is permissible.
During the work session prior to the regular meeting, Cherokee County Sheriff Jeff Shaver gave an update on the Cherokee County Work Release program for fines and child support since the program started in October 2008.
To date, the program has collected $10,828.56, including $2,198.03 in Child Support payable to DHR, $5,946.65 in Fines payable to the Circuit Clerk’s office, $2,651,24 in Fines payable to the District Attorney and $32.64 in Fines payable to Judicial Corrections Service.
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