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Misty started experimenting with alcohol at age 11. She went on to use crack regularly a few times a week by the time she was in high school.

Once she moved in with a boyfriend, they were growing marijuana in their basement to keep up with that habit. From there, it was on to meth.

Unplanned pregnancies and jail time followed before Misty was able to get clean. She has now been clean for more than two years and is eager to share her story about the consequences of using methamphetamines.

Misty was one of the panel members at a meth forum last Tuesday in North Branch. The event was sponsored by Chisago County Meth Task Force, Hazelden Foundation, Community Partnership with Youth & Families, Chisago County Sheriff’s Department, North Branch Police Department, MaMa (Mothers Against Meth-amphetamine) and Chisago County Public Health.

Along with Misty was her husband, Jim, also a former meth addict. Both shared stories of making the wrong decisions that landed them in difficult situations, all as consequences of their meth habit.

Misty was able to stay clean through a pregnancy and gave birth to a healthy baby, but went back to using meth every day two months later. She was trying to juggle being out on her own, going to technical college and being a mom at the same time, she said.

Then she met Jim. “We clicked, because we had the same level of addiction,” Misty said.

The two would use meth together, which became the focus of everyday life.

“I would need to cook at least once a week, just to support our habit,” Jim said.

“I continued trying to be a mom, but I wasn’t,” Misty said.

She would leave her infant with an aunt or friends for weeks at a time while she was busy getting high.

Eventually, the couple’s apartment was raided and they went on the run. Right before Misty was arrested and jailed, she found out she was pregnant. The couple talked about aborting the pregnancy, because they knew they weren’t being good parents already. She soon realized she would have to stay in jail and have the baby.

Misty tried to get her mom and dad to post bail, but they were through helping her out, she said. The daughter of a drug enforcement agent and a parole officer, Misty knew they would refuse to help her until she admitted she was an addict and needed to turn her life around.

She eventually went to Dellwood for treatment and then on to a halfway house. Misty stayed clean and worked hard to get her child back, along the way giving birth to her second child. She and Jim have custody of the two children and now have a third.

Jim said he started using drugs in the early 1990s. The habit intensified quickly, to the point where he learned to cook meth to maintain his own habit.

“What I was using in a day was probably $1,000 worth of meth,” he said.

He describes the situation of a meth addict as “a lot of insanity.” This is not just because of the physical and mental impacts of meth, but the crime that surrounds the habit.

“There is a lot of stealing and selling to support the habit,” he said. “You’re shoplifting the pills, stealing ammonia from farmers, anything you can get your hands on,” Jim said.

He also turned his life around after going on the run with Misty and has been sober two-and-a-half years along with her. The biggest key to staying clean, he said, is that they don’t associate with anyone they knew while they were using, and won’t start up new friendships with anyone using drugs today.

It was a hard lesson to learn for the couple. “I lost everything,” Jim said.

“We’re living with his parents now, because it’s hard to get back on your feet,” Misty said.

Misty and Jim’s story wasn’t the only one shared during the meth forum. Karen LaBore, president of MaMa, said she knew her daughter was using drugs, but she didn’t know what or how much.

“I was introduced to meth four-and-a-half years ago when my daughter called in labor,” LaBore said. When the baby was born, doctors knew something was wrong and they tested the baby for meth. The baby tested positive for meth and marijuana in its system.

When social services were called, LaBore’s daughter asked her to care for the baby, so the baby wouldn’t be placed in foster care.

“I thought it would be just for a little while. That was four years ago and he’s still with us,” she said.

That first baby was joined by a second, just 11 months later, when LaBore’s daughter gave birth again. Less than two years later, her daughter gave birth to baby number three.

Throughout the three pregnancies, LaBore’s daughter tried to get clean, but couldn’t. She used meth for two of the pregnancies, but was able to stay clean through one.

All three kids are now legally adopted by LaBore and while she loves them, it isn’t the situation she expected to be in at this stage of life.

“I thought I was going to be a grandma, now I’m the mom of six,” LaBore said.

The kids know her daughter as “auntie” and her daughter is only allowed daytime visits with the kids. She is currently in treatment for the fourth time – LaBore hopes this time, it works.

In the meantime, she works with MaMa to reach out to area communities. “I like sharing my story and I’m willing to tell them everything about myself,” she said. “If I can say anything that will help anyone else – just one person, then it’s worth it.”

Also presenting facts on meth at the forum were Carol Falkowski, director of research communications at Hazelden, Chisago County Sheriff Todd Rivard and North Branch Police Chief Jules Zimmer.

The Chisago Lakes IMPROV group also performed a short skit.

Zimmer shared several stories of arrests and incidences involving meth that North Branch Police officers have faced. He said there are no more problems with meth in the North Branch area than there are in any other community, but that doesn’t mean people can’t do something about it.

“What you can do, as a neighbor, is call when you suspect something is going on,” Zimmer said. “Help us develop a case.”

He also encouraged residents to put up neighborhood watch signs and organize neighborhood watch committees. Meth Watch signs are also available, with a phone number to call specifically for suspicious behavior possibly related to meth.

Rivard said that the number of meth-related cases are down in Chisago County, but that doesn’t mean the drug still isn’t out there, or that others aren’t on the way.

The county has gone from 44 meth labs busted in 2002 to 12 labs in 2005. So far in 2006, they have busted only two labs. Rivard said much of the decrease may be related to legislation that controls the sale of pseudophedrine in stores and pharmacies.

Resource tables were set up at the forum with information from Fairview Lakes Health Services, Hazelden Foundation, Chisago County Public Health, Army National Guard and Mothers Against Meth-amphetamine.

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