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OTTUMWA, Iowa (AP) - Jittery babies, mistreated toddlers, strung-out mothers: Cheryll Jones' pediatric nursing practice is far from what it was when she started out 30 years ago — long before methamphetamine invaded this riverside Corn Belt town. "If anybody told me my primary caseload would be kids exposed to illicit drugs, I'd have said they were crazy," said Jones, who now runs a local task force helping the most helpless victims of the nation's meth epidemic — small children whose parents make and use the highly addictive drug.
The scars are inflicted in myriad ways: Exposure to the drug in the womb, contamination from toxic chemicals used in home-based meth manufacture, explosions and fires, long-term neglect from parents obsessed with their drug habits, physical abuse and sexual abuse. Many of the meth-lab homes are filthy, often strewn with drug paraphernalia and pornography; meth-making chemicals have been found in diaper bags and toy chests.
"I've been in homes where you'd find jars of meth oil in the refrigerator, but no milk, no bread for the kids," said Marvin Van Haaften, a former country sheriff who is now Iowa's drug policy coordinator.
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