DEATH * BY * METH

This is dedicated to Travis Holappa who was kidnapped, tortured and murdered on July 25, 2004 in Northern Minnesota. This was all due to meth. I am Travis' mother and I wish to make this devastation turn into a better thing by educating and exposing the truth about meth, the dangers, and the deadly consequences it brings about to individuals and communities.

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Location: Colorado, United States

I want to do what I can to educate people about what is going on around the world with the meth problem. I want people to know about it BEFORE they even get the idea to want to try it. It is a dangerous drug and will ruin your life as well as all those who love you. I am on a mission on behalf of my only son, Travis.

Monday, October 23, 2006

Cops seek more money in meth fight - California

By Craig Koscho


Some of the most innocent victims of methamphetamine manufacture and use will get help from a new grant being pursued by the Calaveras County Sheriff’s Department.

The Cal-Met state grant would provide the county with $295,000 to fund five positions - a sergeant and two deputies in the Sheriff’s Department, an officer for the Angels Camp Police Department, and a Child Protective Services worker.

Calaveras is one of many counties taking part in the statewide program.

Local officials are still working with the state to complete the application, Undersheriff Mike Walker said, and they hope to have an award ready for approval by the county Board of Supervisors within the next couple of weeks.

The first component of the program is finding and dismantling the methamphetamine laboratories and prosecuting the manufacturers, Walker said.

And then county workers will tackle the impact on the children who are frequently found at the homes of laboratories and dealers.


“It’s almost a majority of the time there’s going to be children in and out of the home,” Walker said.

“We’ve taken children out of those homes and had them medically tested and found a high level of components needed to make methamphetamine in their systems,” he added.

In these cases, the parents are charged with child endangerment.

The new program will provide even more support for the children, getting them removed from that environment and medically stable, Walker said.



Protecting the children of methamphetamine makers was high on the list of program items when Police Chief Tony Tacheira explained the program during Tuesday night’s meeting of the Angels Camp City Council.

“We’ve had kids playing in meth waste,” Tacheira said.

The $54,195 provided to his department from the Sheriff’s Department would cover eight months of salary and benefits for a new officer, Tacheira said.

Equipment and a vehicle are already available for that new position, he added.

Calaveras County is ranked eighth out of 58 counties for the number of drug laboratory seizures, Tacheira said.

Nationwide, 20 percent of the inmates in county jails are there for methamphetamine crimes. In Calaveras County, Tacheira said, the figure is 60 percent.

Narcotics use has an impact on just about every facet of society, Tacheira said, because it is the No. 1 reason for theft, burglary, assault, domestic violence and other crimes.

In the past few months there was a problem with possible narcotics waste being dumped into the city’s sewer system, compromising the treatment system at the processing plant, Tacheira said.

And in rural areas, there’s always the concern of drug waste being dumped in creeks and streams, he said.

After 18 months, the Legislature will review the program’s effectiveness statewide and determine if the funding should be renewed.

Local authorities believe the results will be dramatic enough to guarantee that.

“It’s anticipated this type of program will have a significant impact on the manufacture of methamphetamine in our area,” Walker said.

Contact Craig Koscho at ckoscho@calaverasenterprise.com.

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