Iowa has seen increasing numbers of meth-related imprisonments, meth lab seizures and children found with meth in their bodies in recent years, despite a 2005 state law restricting access to pseudoephedrine. This raises the question: how can Iowa break a cycle of meth abuse?
A forum co-hosted by the non-profit news organization, IowaWatch, and the Council Bluffs Nonpareil, and sponsored by Alegent Creighton Health Mental Health Services and Mercy Hospital, is to be held the night of Tuesday, July 1, to seek answers.
The forum will be in Meeting Room B of the Council Bluffs Public Library, 400 Willow Ave., from 6 to 7:30 p.m. The public is encouraged to attend this important forum. IowaWatch will also be liveblogging the event.
A highlight of the forum will be the showing of a 25-minute documentary, Breaking the Cycle: Meth Addiction in the Heartland, written and produced for IowaWatch by Council Bluffs native Katie Kuntz.
Katie Kuntz
Kuntz produced the documentary as a senior IowaWatch honors project at the University of Iowa, from where she graduated in May. Following the showing a panel will discuss the impact meth abuse has on Iowans and suggest ways to stop the cycle of abuse. Audience members will have a chance to comment and ask questions, as well.
The panel will consist of Glennis Guerrero, sober since last abusing meth nearly 12 years ago and working to keep others away from meth addiction; 4th Judicial District probation officer Keith Roman; Scott Halverson, Alegent Creighton Health Manager; and Katie Kuntz. [ED.NOTE: This story reflects a change in the Alegent Creighton health representative that was made after the initial announcement about the forum was made.]
Lyle Muller, executive director-editor of the Iowa Center for Public Affairs Journalism that runs IowaWatch, and John Schreier, news editor for the Nonpareil, will co-moderate the forum.
View the Documentary: Breaking the Cycle: Meth Addiction in the Heartland
The Iowa Center for Public Affairs Journalism-IowaWatch, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that does investigative and public affairs journalism; makes that journalism available free on its website, IowaWatch.org, and through media partners; and trains college students to do this journalism at an ethical, high level.