County Commissioners Lynette Boggs McDonald and Myrna Williams and County Manager Thom Reilly hosted the "meth" symposium, where representatives from local and state public, private and non-profit sectors discussed the drug that is crippling the lives of adults and children alike and its effect on local agencies and services.

The event took place from 8 a.m. to noon at the Cambridge Recreation Center located at 3900 S. Cambridge St. The symposium featured keynote and panel presentations from 8 to 10:30 a.m., followed by breakout sessions from 10:30 a.m. to noon. The breakout sessions included three groups, each focused on a different area: education and prevention; intervention and treatment; and legislation and regulation. Representatives from the medical, law enforcement, child welfare and education fields were assigned to a working group where ideas and solutions to the issue were discussed.

"I was alarmed to learn how pervasive meth is in our community," said Commissioner Boggs McDonald. "It is especially affecting our children, which is unacceptable. My goal for this symposium is to leave with prioritized programs and services, and solutions that are realistic and results-oriented."

The pervasive effect of the drug on Southern Nevada is staggering, officials said. For instance, Clark County Juvenile Drug Court reports that 80 to 90 percent of youth in the juvenile justice system who have an identified drug problem point to meth as their drug of choice. In Clark County Family Court, cases where a child is in need of protection due to child abuse or neglect, more than 25 percent (308 of 1,210) of all new dependency petitions involved a newborn child testing positive for drugs in 2005. The drug also touches other parts of the criminal justice system and other county agencies, including Family Services, Social Service and University Medical Center.

"To maximize the effectiveness of our work, we intentionally planned the symposium as a multi-disciplinary, multi-jurisdictional event," said Commissioner Williams. "The more we reached out to our government and community partners to get involved, the longer the list of participants and attendees became. This really is a major problem we must work together."