Alabama Doctor Forms 'Mothers Against Meth'

An Alabama doctor who lost a brother to methamphetamine addiction has formed a support group called Mothers Against Methamphetamine (MAMa), the Associated Press reported Aug. 28.

"After he died, I started looking into it as a physician, as a scientist," said Dr. Mary Holley, an obstetrician in Albertville. "What is this drug that destroyed his life in just two years?"

Holley formed the group last year and there now are chapters in Tennessee, Georgia, Oklahoma, Missouri, and Ohio.

The group works with churches to form addiction-support groups. In addition, the MAMa website offers information that explains the dangers of meth.

"People don't realize what this drug is doing," Holley said. "One look at the brain scan in my pamphlets will change that attitude."

Holley, a Christian, said a religious approach to treating drug addiction is more effective than law enforcement. "Law enforcement is helpless. They can't possibly bust every lab. They can't keep them in jail long enough for them to heal," Holley said. "Education is helpless. They lack the resources and the moral authority to change the situation."

Holley said that when speaking with young people, she found that, "20 percent of meth users are basically healthy kids who made a bad decision. About 75 percent are broken, hurting people, abused and battered as kids. They use this drug because it works. It makes them feel better. They have been rejected and humiliated and miserable people all their lives. It just makes everything better. This stuff works."

Source: www.jointogether.org