Kansas Methamphetamine Summit to be held November 28 & 29
Wichita event precedes National Methamphetamine Awareness Day

As a way to help educate the public and promote coordination of Kansas’ anti-meth efforts, Governor Kathleen Sebelius and the Kansas Task Force Addressing Methamphetamine & Illegal Drugs will hold the third Kansas Methamphetamine Summit November 28 & 29, 2006 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel & Convention Center in Wichita.  Registration begins at 8:30 a.m., Tuesday, with the program starting at 9:30 a.m.

The summit precedes the U.S. Department of Justice’s National Methamphetamine Awareness Day on November 30, which is designed to generate awareness about the damaging effects of methamphetamine abuse on individuals, families and communities. 

“Although recent prevention efforts have been successful, meth continues to be one of the largest public safety threats facing our state,” Sebelius said. 

“The Sheriff Matt Samuels Act has decreased the number of meth labs in Kansas, but this dangerous drug continues to be shipped into our state and wreaks havoc on users, their children, families and communities.  That’s why this summit will bring people together to discuss new initiatives in law enforcement, treatment and prevention to fight meth in our state,” she continued.

A panel of former methamphetamine users will address the participants and discuss their involvement with methamphetamine and how they received treatment for their addiction. National speakers will address the areas of law enforcement, treatment and prevention efforts to combat methamphetamine use.  Those speakers include:

• David Hopkins, Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services;
• Michael McCampbell, Circle Solutions, Inc., McLean, Virginia;
• Dr. James Peck, Semel Institute of Neuroscience and Human Behavior at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA;
• Captain Charles Stocking, Cass County, Missouri, Sheriff’s Office; and
• Kathryn Woodward, Montana Meth Prevention Project.

Biographies of the speakers appear as follows:

2006 Kansas Methamphetamine Summit Speaker Biographies

David Hopkins serves as the project manager for the Hal Rogers Grant which supports the Kentucky All Schedule Prescription Electronic Reporting System.  KASPER tracks controlled substance prescriptions dispensed within Kentucky. A KASPER report shows all scheduled prescriptions for an individual during a specified time period, the prescriber and the dispenser to prevent substance abuse, misuse, diversion and illegal sales of prescriptions drugs.

Michael McCampbell directs the National Clandestine Laboratory Enforcement Training Project for the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS), U.S. Department of Justice, which provides training to public safety agencies and communities on laboratory recognition, hazard identification and response procedures.  In the last three years, the project has delivered training to more than 6,000 public safety personnel in 24 states and Puerto Rico. 

Dr. James Peck has been at the forefront of the study and response to the current methamphetamine abuse epidemic while working with Drs. Richard Rawson and Walter Ling at UCLA’s Integrated Substance Abuse Programs.  He has directed numerous clinical trials of both pharmacological and psychosocial interventions for stimulant dependence. 

Captain Charles Stocking has been with the sheriff’s office since 1989 and has been involved with clandestine laboratory investigations for the past 10 years.  He has conducted numerous training programs on clandestine laboratory certification and recertification for his agency and literally hundreds of training programs on methamphetamine abuse, hazards and manufacturing for Circle Solutions, Inc. and other organizations.

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