People with methamphetamine addictions are not a lost cause and in fact respond well to addiction treatment, experts told Wyoming lawmakers this week.

The Casper Star-Tribune reported May 16 that Antoinette Krupski of the Washington Division of Alcohol and Substance Abuse said that meth users who complete treatment were no different than other patients in terms of needing further stints in treatment, holding down jobs, or being arrested. "I haven't seen the data that support the idea that meth users are hopeless," said Krupski, who added that treatment stays for meth users -- about 90 days -- are not much longer than for users of other drugs.

"There's a lot of misinformation about methamphetamine in the length of treatment and brain changes," agreed Allison Colker, an addiction expert for the National Conference of State Legislatures, who noted that while meth may be more toxic to the brain than other drugs, brain function usually returns to normal within 24 months of sobriety.

Both said the media have exaggerated the addictive power of meth and the difficulty of treating addiction to the drug. "The press has been dominated by reports from criminal justice and child welfare," Krupski said.  "Those are extremes; not all meth addiction gets to that extreme."