Recovered addict to manage homes

Christine Blankenship is very aware what methamphetamine addiction brings.

"I had never tried meth until I moved to Nevada County" about 13 years ago. As a single mom, "I met a man and he introduced me to it" - classic start-up behavior for female meth addicts.

Six years clean, Blankenship is now running two new transitional homes for recovering addicts in the area (see accompanying story).

"I was a yuppie housewife working two jobs, trying to support myself and my two kids, keep my house clean, and I wanted to party on the weekends," Blankenship said.

"I thought it was the answer to all my prayers. It worked for three months, and then it started causing problems in my life."

Those problems included domestic violence, staying up so long she couldn't stay awake at work, and lots of "tweakers" in and out of her house.

"You know, they talk about drug dealers," Blankenship said. "Everybody who had meth, sold meth. I didn't know anybody who didn't sell the drug."

Blankenship lost her home, her children, and saw one child go up for adoption. She got clean for one year, relapsed and applied for the county's drug court.

"I was on my way to prison," Blankenship said.

"They took a chance on me, and I've been clean ever since."

She reunited with her children and is now working with Community Resources Recovery, the transition home sponsors. She sees plenty of meth behavior in the community she left behind.

"Among housewives, it runs rampant," Blankenship said. "It's the whole thing of being thin."



<I>To contact senior staff writer Dave Moller, e-mail davem@theunion.com or call 477-4237.</I>