Effingham detective Bill Arnold has his hands full with about a thousand meth cases a year. To him that means hundreds of his neighbors ravaged by meth. "It's the worst drug i've ever seen or dealt with. It just tears families apart," Arnold says. And in his fight to stop it.. he turned to an unlikely source. "She's one of the few success stories we have," he says. She is a former addict named "Stephanie." She broke free from meth after using it for years. She now shares her story with police, firefighters and families. "We were highly addicted for about three years," she says as she begins telling a group of firefighters in Effingham county her story. Police say Stephanie's one of the reasons they've seen their meth rate plummet... dropping nearly 70%. Stephanie gives crowds something others can't... real-life experience. "I think if i would have known more about it i probably would have had second thoughts," she says. And Arnold agrees. That's why he called on Stephanie to help him teach others what this drug can do to you. "We're trying to make people aware," he says. But in this county, Stephanie isn't the only one fighting for her community. The city has a drug court, a special probation program and what many call the best kept secret for suffering families. A program called "life recovery." "Meth has been the thing that has caused so much trauma in this community for so long," says Life Recovery coordinator Leo Delhaute. Delhaute and his wife Mary helped create the program for people like Stephanie. It started on a whim. The pastor at Assembly of God church made an unexpected announcement last year, that the church would no longer go on missions to South America. There was too much to take care of at home. Delhaute agrees. "It's everywhere and people that you would never suspect," he says. Every week they hold anonymous meetings in the church, and rows of seats are filled. "I think there's a need for a dozen groups just like it in the community," Delhaute says. "If you read statistics we're just barely barely scratching the surface of the need." Laws are making it harder for people to make meth, and penalties are tougher for those who use it. But Effingham police know that's not enough. They say the homegrown effort to get rid of this drug is what makes a mark. Delhaute and Stephanie agree it means more when worried residents work together to answer the burning question... "What do we do to keep anybody from trying it?"
