Sequoyah County agencies and Sallisaw police are ready for the broadcast of the statewide anti-drug program, “Crystal Darkness: Meth’s deadly Assault on Our Community.”

In Sequoyah County, the program will be held in the commons area at Sallisaw High School and at Indian Capital Technology Center (ICTC) in Sallisaw.

Final plans were made at a meeting of participants Tuesday at the Sallisaw Civic Center. Sallisaw Police Chief Shaloa Edwards was presented with posters for the event. The posters were designed and printed at the ICTC, Jodi Keith, ICTC instructor said. One of her students, Shelbie Lane, a Central High School junior and ICTC student, designed the poster. Police officers were hanging the posters at Sallisaw schools Tuesday and Wednesday.

The “Crystal Darkness” program is a statewide program to fight the use of methamphetamine. The half-hour program will be broadcast statewide at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday and then local participants at events planned by local agencies will be having special speakers, handing out information and offering counseling.

After the documentary’s broadcast at the watch party, a discussion about the dangers of methamphetamine use will be held and a hot line will be available for those who wish to call in to either report suspected methamphetamine makers and sellers or to ask for help for those addicted to methamphetamines. Edwards said the calls will either be directed to local police for investigation or to counselors who can help addicts.

The Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs offered grants of $5,000 to cities and organizations to help plan and hold the watch parties.

Edwards said he spoke with Sallisaw’s DiamondNet broadcast system, and they will be broadcasting the documentary on large television screens at the schools on Tuesday. DiamondNet will be broadcasting the basketball game between Roland and Sallisaw, will break away for the documentary’s broadcast, then will return to broadcasting the ballgame, Edwards said.

Edwards said any organization which will be providing counselors for the watch party should submit the counselors’ names to him by Friday.

The watch party will also include a poem reading at both the high school and ICTC, and a speaker from the Sequoyah County Drug Court.

“I’d like to see us pack the commons area,” Edwards said, adding that he did not know how many to expect at the watch party. “It will depend on a lot of things, even the weather.”

Schools will also be sending home information with students about the program, and inviting parents and families to attend.

State Plans Watch Parties

Oklahoma’s plans for the Jan. 13 documentary and watch party may be found on the Internet at www.crystaldarknessoklahoma.org.

The following information is from that Web site.

According to the Drug Enforcement Administration a growing amount of the meth provided to the region is manufactured in major production facilities in Mexico as well as through clandestine laboratories in the Central Valley of California.

To a lesser extent it’s also produced locally in extremely hazardous meth labs. In these makeshift cook houses, the drug is made through a chemical process which can use a variety of highly toxic substances including lithium from batteries, sulfuric acid from drain cleaners, camping fuel, paint thinner and starter fluid to name a few.

The result is methamphetamine or meth known by a variety of street names including crank, crystal, ice, chalk and quartz. 

Meth can be introduced to the bloodstream through different ways including snorting, intake of pills, being smoked or through needles. It travels to the brain and creates an intense rush that can last many hours.

The rush is caused by a sharp increase in the amount of dopamine produced by the brain’s neurotransmitters. Dopamine is what creates the sensation of pleasure.

The pursuit of a quick fix comes at a tremendous cost. Over time, meth begins to destroy the brain’s pleasure receptors, rapidly reducing the effect of the drug.

Worse yet, as these receptors shut down it becomes difficult for the meth user to enjoy pleasure at all.

The result is depression, despair and a continual need to get high over and over again. At this point many meth addicts report needing large doses of the drug just to feel “normal.”

The drug is now firmly in control.

Information from Sequoyah County’s law enforcement agencies indicated at one time the county was one of the main sources of methamphetamine. The District Attorney’s Drug Task Force and sheriff’s office, along with local city and town police, have cooperated in investigations to arrest and prosecute meth makers and users.