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.

My Photo
Name:
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.

Friday, February 08, 2008

Victims Rights?

Why is it that some crazy person out of their mind on meth can come and take your loved one away by murdering them and the killer has all the rights?

July 25, 2004 Travis was brutally murdered and we are yet to get his remains to even have a buriel and provide closure for our family. All the while, appeals go through the Supreme Court for Frank Miller. His appeals delay our laying my son's bones to rest with his ancestors.

I just don't see justice in that part of the process. I am however happy that Frank Miller is behind bars and if he continues to have all his doors closed appeals wise, he will live behind those bars for the remainder of his life. How many years is that? He is around 32... that is a very long time.

One day and hopefully one day soon, we will be able to finish this chapter of our lives and move onto the next step of this loss.

Wednesday, February 06, 2008

Faces Of Meth Addiction

I found an informative site on CBS. You should check it out. It has many resources and videos.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/04/29/eveningnews/main692101.shtml

(CBS) They are portraits of self-destruction.

A death march under a microscope. A jailhouse gallery of lives laid waste by meth addiction.

Forty-two year old Teresa Baxter, after 2 1/2 years on meth, now can't stand the sight of herself.

"I don't look in the mirror," Baxter told CBS News Correspondent Bob McNamara. "I don't want to see. I don't want to see."

Portland Deputy Bret King collects the pictures of meth addicts.

"[Meth addiction] just really destroys them," King said. "[It] deteriorates their body."

While booking suspects into the county jail, King spotted a grisly trend in how mug shots of many repeatedly arrested meth users changed over time. When looking at earlier pictures of future addicts, "there's life in their face," King said.

"There's life in their eyes. Then you switch to the second picture and that life is gone," King said. "Look at their eyes. Their soul seems to have left their body."

From cold tablets, alcohol, lithium in batteries and the deadly ammonia often stolen from farm fertilizer supplies, meth is a chemical jambalaya that can be cooked quickly and cheaply into rocks with more kick than cocaine.

"This stuff is powerful, makes people do crazy things," Baxter said. "People do outrageous things on this stuff."

Today Oregon treats more meth addicts per capita than any other state. But photographs of ravaged faces give only a hint to the damage meth does to the mind.

"This particular damage [shows]... he has trouble learning and he really doesn't feel very good when he's not on [meth]," said UCLA researcher Dr. Edith London, who found meth's toxic chemicals eat away an addict's brain tissue.

They almost look like they've been given either a life sentence or a death sentence.

"I think the death sentence," said King. "The latter of the two is probably most accurate."

Teresa Baxter wants to be a living lesson to anyone thinking of trying meth.

"I do hate the drug and I wish I had never used it, but I did use it," Baxter said, crying. "I have used it and I can't be away from it. It's hard. It's really hard for me."

Bret King will take his Faces of Meth to Portland area schools.

"I'm letting them hear it straight from the horse's mouth, and if that is not testimony to what this drug will do to you, it will — there's no question — it will happen to you."

The Faces of Meth — it is a reality show that's all too real. And nobody wins

Tuesday, February 05, 2008

Carded for Sudafed

Last night I went to our local Walgreens to purchase some "behind the counter" Sudafed for my daughter who is an "recovering" ex meth user. I was very happy to supply them with my driver's license knowing that our state has placed a law into place to try and stop methamphetamine production.

I know there are other ways to get around this hurdle for the meth suppliers but it won't be through this door anymore.

I believe our country has a very long way to go yet to eradicate this drug from our doorsteps, IF ever.

I was also a little nervous giving this medication to my daughter. I felt a twinge of fear handing this over to her knowing the doctor prescribed this for her, but also wondering how this would affect her. Would it send her back into that world of deception and death? I did not know. Luckily she is in group therapy and takes random UAs and is very conscientious now as to what she puts into her body.

I spoke with her today and spent time with her. We discussed how it made her feel and she did not like the anxiety she woke up with at 3 am. We will monitor and she will use it sparingly.

She IS on the road to recovery and doing very very well. I am very proud of her yet I know that this is an addiction and she is well aware of who to stay away from, what situations to stay out of and that she needs to constantly renew her mind to focus on other things that are more important. YEAH for recovery!

Thanks, Kim