NEWPORT, Ore. -- It is no secret the Oregon Coast is known for its breathtaking beaches and sensational sunsets, but 23 year old Annesha Brockett, of Newport, has not been able to enjoy it.

“It’s a struggle at times. It’s a struggle,” said Brockett, a recovering drug addict. At the tender age of fifteen Brockett started using and abusing Methamphetamine.

“It was an easy access type thing. It’s easy out here. Out here in Newport it’s very easy,” added Brockett.

And Brockett is not alone.

Drug counselor, Sheri Crew, says more than 70 percent of her clients are addicted to meth.

“There is such a rush of all good chemicals in your brain that it fills your system and feels like a dozen orgasms all at once,” said Crew of Discovery Counseling.

For Brockett though, smoking meth was not enough. She started dealing and eventually got busted. “I had been on it for three days, woke up, and there were five or six cops with guns on me,” she said.

According to some of the most recent statistics, drug abuse on the Coast is far worse than abuse in the Portland metropolitan area.

In fact, between November of 2006 and July of this year, police along the coast made more than 1500 drug related arrests for every 100,000 people. That compares to a little more than 1,000 in land.

“California is really where the meth got started and its been running up the Coast between California and Washington for a long time, so Highway 101 is a main traffic route,” said Crew.

Clatsop County Sheriff Tom Bergin believes it has a lot to do with the size of coastal jails.

“We have sixty beds. We should probably have 240,” he said.

In other words, Bergin says the least dangerous inmates, typically those on drugs, are booked and released. And even then, those who get locked up, are there partly because of addiction.

“My wife died and both my Mom and step Mom died within six months of each other. I just said, hell with it, and I slowly tried to kill myself with the drugs,” said Dan Brown, a convicted felon.

His accomplice explains what they did to get those drugs.

“We were originally going to burglarize Labor Temple, but we couldn’t get the doors open, so Plan B, and we went in and robbed it,” added Dan Marshall, another convicted felon.

As for Annesha Brockett, she has served her time.

She has now been clean for two months, but she says as long as she lives along the Coast, she will have to fight that urge to return to her old lifestyle.

“It’s always an option there. There’s always that option,” said Brockett.

Before the drug scene improves on the Coast, both Sheriff Tom Bergin and Sheri Crew believe there needs to be more collaboration between the Department of Corrections and the legal system.

As for Annesha Brockett, she wants to head back to school to be a physical therapist.