Who are the meth users?
McEvers says, “You can’t categorize the drug users anymore.” Kaspari agrees, “We have treated a 16-year-old honor student, a 60-year-old grandparent, and everything in between—professional people, college students, etc.” College students use meth to stay awake to study. Women and girls use meth to lose weight. Young kids use meth at rave parties to sustain energy for all-night dancing. It’s no longer only the “druggie” types. Dan Seymour, Program Manager for North Dakota parole and probation, says, “The age group we see using meth seems to be 30- to 40-year-olds. It used to be that the offender was younger. For example, now we see a lot of male construction workers, and the growth of the woman offender is on the rise.” One thing for certain is that meth is a rising problem in our community. Seymour says, “Meth is pretty much what we deal with every day.” Verne Heltemes, DEA task force officer in Moorhead, says, “Of our felony level narcotics investigations, 95 percent of them are meth-
