AG praises Carson City's anti-meth coalition's efforts

In her first official speech as attorney general, Catherine Cortez Masto commended members of the Partnership Carson City anti-methamphetamine coalition Wednesday.

"Your community is so far ahead of every other community in the state," she said to members of the coalition gathered at the Carson Nugget on Wednesday. "Most people would rather not get engaged. They'd rather the government just take care of it - without using tax dollars."

Cortez Masto was the keynote speaker at Wednesday's meeting of Partnership Carson City, a 3-year-old coalition made up of volunteers throughout the community and broken up into committees ranging from awareness and education to treatment, prevention and law enforcement.

The meeting fell the day after the airing on most local channels of "Crystal Darkness," a 30-minute documentary about methamphetamine.

The documentary, spearheaded by Secret Witness along with a partnership with the Washoe County School District, Meth Community Response Alliance, Join Together Northern Nevada and Partnership Carson City, featured vignettes of people affected by the drug.

Among them were Carson City Sheriff Kenny Furlong and his daughter, Kendra, speaking about her struggle with meth addiction. Several members of the coalition pointed to the father and daughter as one of the most poignant portions of the program.

"To go out on point like that takes a lot of guts," said Mayor Marv Teixeira. "I compliment you and your daughter on that."

Sheriff Furlong renewed his commitment to fighting methamphetamine in Carson City, tracing the coalition's roots to a concerted effort among city and law enforcement officials to close the Downtowner Inn in Carson City in April 2005. The motel was a hotbed for drug trafficking and use.

"We stopped it at the Downtowner, and we're going to continue to stop it at every corner in this town for as long as it takes," he said.

Among the successes of the coalition are a hotline to anonymously report suspicious behavior, a Special Enforcement Team dedicated to drug crimes, increased programs in schools and community-education programs.

Cortez Masto said she is working on creating a statewide effort similar to Carson City's coalition to bring together leaders to discuss strategies of battling methamphetamine use, creation and sale.

• Contact reporter Teri Vance at tvance@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1272.

For your information

To report meth-related crimes, call 887-2020 ext. 6384 (meth).

Program schedule for Carson Access Channel 26 to air "Crystal Darkness," a 30-minute documentary about methamphetamine:

Sunday:

11 a.m. and 4:30 p.m.

Monday:

8 a.m. and 5:30 p.m.

Tuesday:

5 p.m.

Wednesday:

8 a.m. and 9 p.m.

Jan. 18

8 a.m. and 8:30 p.m.

Jan. 19

1:30 p.m. and 4:30 p.m.

Jan. 20

6:30 a.m. and 8:30 p.m.

On the Net

For information on Carson Access scheduling:

Bactv.org.

For information on the documentary:

http://crystaldarkness.com