IowaWatch To Hold Des Moines, Iowa City Forums On Fighting Meth Abuse, Screen Documentary

IowaWatch.org will host two forums that explore possible solutions for breaking the cycle of meth abuse in Iowa. The Nov. 19 and 20 forums are based on the IowaWatch documentary by Katie Kuntz, “Breaking the Cycle: Meth Addiction in the Heartland.”

The forums, open to the public, are to take place on Wednesday, Nov. 19, from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at Register Media’s Community Room in Des Moines and on Thursday, Nov. 20, from 3:30 to 5 p.m. at the Iowa City Public Library Meeting Room A in Iowa City.

MAPS SHOW WHERE
FORUMS WILL BE HELD:
DES MOINES IOWA CITY

“We see these forums as an opportunity to bring together people who understand the problem of meth abuse in Iowa and who can offer ways to battle this addiction,” IowaWatch Executive Director-Editor Lyle Muller said. “We held a similar forum in Council Bluffs in July with some success that we’d like to duplicate.”

The forums will begin with a screening of the 25-minute documentary followed by a panel discussion and question-and-answer session with the audience.

Panelists talk about curbing meth abuse at a July 1 IowaWatch/Council Bluffs Nonpareil forum in Council Bluffs. Left to right are: Katie Kuntz, producer of an IowaWatch documentary 'Breaking the Cycle: Meth Addiction in the Heartland'; 4th Judicial District probation officer Keith Roman; Alegent Creighton Health Director Haley Ehlers; and addiction treatment counselor and recovering meth addict Glennis Guerrero. — Panelists talk about curbing meth abuse at a July 1 IowaWatch/Council Bluffs Nonpareil forum in Council Bluffs. Left to right are: Katie Kuntz, producer of an IowaWatch documentary ‘Breaking the Cycle: Meth Addiction in the Heartland’; 4th Judicial District probation officer Keith Roman; Alegent Creighton Health Director Haley Ehlers; and addiction treatment counselor and recovering meth addict Glennis Guerrero. Credit: Lauren Mills/IowaWatch

Panelists will be documentary producer Katie Kuntz and recovering meth addict and recovery activist Glennis Guerrero of Council Bluffs in both Des Moines and Iowa City; joined by Powell Chemical Dependency Center certified alcohol and drug abuse counselor Mike Edens and Jasper County Assistant Attorney Scott Nicholson in Des Moines, and Johnson County Sheriff’s Department jail alternatives director Jessica Peckover and Wendy Danicourt, vice president of clinical operations at MECCA Services, in Iowa City.

Muller will co-moderate with Des Moines Register Executive Editor Amalie Nash in Des Moines and Iowa City Press-Citizen Community Content and Engagement Editor Emily Nelson in Iowa City. Register Media and UnityPoint Health of Des Moines are sponsoring the Nov. 19 forum and MECCA Services and The Press-Citizen are sponsoring the Nov. 20 forum.

“Breaking the Cycle: Meth Addiction in the Heartland” has been accepted by Iowa Public Television for an airing in early 2015. Kuntz is a University of Iowa alumna who produced the IowaWatch documentary for a senior honors project before graduating in May 2014. She now is an investigative reporter at Rocky Mountain PBS I-News in Denver, Colorado.

IowaWatch.org is part of the Iowa Center for Public Affairs Journalism, an independent, nonprofit and nonpartisan news service that collaborates with Iowa media partners to produce investigative and explanatory journalism, and trains college students to do this kind of work at a professional and ethical level. It was founded in 2010.