Criminal justice officials, treatment providers, prevention specialists and politicians will gather today in Tacoma for a two-day methamphetamine summit.

This is the state's seventh such summit on the meth epidemic. More than 275 people are expected to be in attendance for the event at the Hotel Murano, according to a press release from Pierce County.

The summit will kick off this morning with a "Parade of Transformation," which is billed as an hour and 15 minutes of speeches from 22 speakers. (A press release from Gov. Chris Gregoire's office said she'll be addressing the summit at 8:30 a.m., extending the parade to 90 minutes.)

Other politicians in attendance will be U.S. Sens. Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell and Pierce County Executive John W. Ladenburg.

Here's a little more from the press release.

The summit's goal is to further equip the attendees to carry on the fight against meth in their communities, according to Executive Director Terree Schmidt-Whelan of the Pierce County Alliance. "We want to introduce the National Methamphetamine Training and Technical Assistance Center to the meth-impacted agencies and communities in our state," she said.

The Tacoma-based center is designed to assist communities across the nation in the fight against the manufacture, distribution and use of methamphetamine. The center is being formed through a partnership of the Pierce County Alliance and Safe Streets Campaign, both of which are part of the Washington State Methamphetamine Initiative. Funding for the center was allocated through the U.S. Department of Justice's Office of Community Oriented Policing Services.

"We also want to showcase the ongoing WSMI efforts across the state to combat the manufacture, distribution and use of methamphetamine,"
Schmidt-Whelan said.

The benefits of the Innovative Treatment Model and research that validates the effectiveness of Safe Streets Campaign-inspired Methamphetamine Action Teams will be presented during the summit.

Attendees also will hear of current methamphetamine trends, such as trafficking of stronger forms of meth by Latino gangs.

I'll be at the event this morning and will report back.

Here's the announcement from Washington Communities Against Predators:

The City of Tacoma is the site of the first Safe Child Town Hall, located at Lincoln High School’s auditorium, is Wednesday, August 20th, at 6:00 pm.

This town hall series is designed to empower communities, parents, and children; to help define and confront real risk head-on, in order to reduce crimes against children and tragedies in our communities. The Safe Child Town Hall series is part of Washington Communities Against Predator’s [Wash-CAP] Safe Child Project, in observance of National Missing Children’s Day. As many of the media know, 67% of all reported Sexual Assaults are committed upon minors: 33% are below 12 years of age. It is the goal of the Safe Child Project to reduce those numbers.

We hope for community members from across Tacoma to attend. Parents, care-givers, concerned adults and teenagers all benefit from learning –proactively- how to safeguard the children within their communities. With knowledge and empowerment, children can be kept safe and secure.

Tacoma Safe Child Town Hall topics will include:
· preventative safety for child and family,

· resources available if your child has been assaulted,

· real statistics on who is a threat to your child and community,

· internet safety

· what is being done to increase the safety of Tacoma’s families & children, and what has been learned in the last year since the tragic loss of Zinna Linnick,

· what kind of oversight Registered Sex Offenders receive,

· Panel Q&A

=> Read more!

State Attorney General Rob McKenna will be over at Stadium HIgh School on Thursay as part of a campaign against meth.

He'll be going to Bremerton High School on Friday as part of his school visits for "Operation: Allied Against Meth."

McKenna will be speaking to students Thursday morning at Stadium. In addition, a former meth addict will share her story about addiction to the powerful, homemade drug and how she turned her life around.

The anti-meth campaign was launched in May 2005. Since, McKenna has made presentations before more than 20,000 students at 30 different schools.