Pubdate: Tue, 15 Apr 2003
Source: Times-Journal, The (Fort Payne, AL)
Copyright: 2003 Times-Journal
Contact:  http://www.times-journal.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1883
Author: Steven Stiefel

Series: Part 5 Of 6

MONSTER METH: COURTS MAKING A DIFFERENCE

Court referral and Drug Court are two innovative approaches for dealing 
with persons convicted of crimes they committed under the influence of 
methamphetamine.

Doug Parker, executive director of the DeKalb County Court Referral 
Program, said his agency is on the front lines of the meth problem.

"Prison is absolutely not therapeutic," Parker said. "When an addict goes 
to prison, he or she will generally return to society as an addict, as 
prison is designed to punish not rehabilitate. It is the responsibility of 
police to find the people making and selling drugs.

"Once law enforcement has brought an addict before the court, it is then 
our responsibility to design a rehabilitation program for that 
individual.We intervene in the lives of people who would otherwise be lost. 
Society needs to understand these people are ill, and can't be dealt with 
by conventional methods."

The idea for DeKalb's Drug Court was initiated by Circuit Court Judge 
Randall Cole and Judge Lee Clyde Traylor believes in it so much that he is 
staying past his retirement as district judge without compensation to steer 
the program onward.

"I understand how difficult it is to break an addiction to meth," Traylor 
said. "One fellow told me to imagine every pleasurable moment of my life 
kicking in at once. If someone shows no intention of quitting drugs and 
they are just jumping through the hoops to stay out of prison, they are 
wasting their time and ours."

Traylor said the people who rehabilitate addicts "all give more time and 
effort than we pay them for."

Parker said a $400,000 federal grant was obtained after local officials 
convinced U.S. officials the drug problem in small town America was just as 
great as in big cities, at least percentage-wise.

"We created the first drug court in a rural setting in America," he said.

Not everyone can get in the drug court, but for those who are willing to 
admit drug use and get help, it can allow them to go on with life without 
the burden of a criminal record, provided that they successfully complete 
the drug court program.

Court referral was started by legislative act to deal with substance 
abusing offenders.

"I've come to believe there are two kinds of folks who end up in the 
criminal justice system on felony crimes," Parker said. "Roughly 80 percent 
of our prison populations today are addicts or alcoholics. The very 
foundation of their behavior is found in substance abuse. The other 20 
percent are criminals who use drugs as part of a lifestyle; they are 
defendants that we are afraid of, as a society."

Court referral monitors, supervises, and drug tests people who, for 
example, get a suspended sentence on probation, contingent upon staying 
clean and sober.

"We have the only drug test lab in our type of agency in the entire state," 
Parker said, referring to the $500,000 device donated by Roche Diagnostics. 
"It is absolutely essential that when we say someone is using drugs, they 
are. False positives are not acceptable to us because it could mean someone 
going to prison."

Failing to comply with drug court procedures, can mean more frequent court 
appearances, increased intensity of treatment and urinalysis testing or 
possibly going to jail or prison.

Parker has seen some innovative attempts by addicts to fool the test, 
including one woman who took her child's urine and attempted to pass it off 
as her own by inserting a pharmacy vial into a body cavity and pricking tin 
foil before giving a urine sample. Parker said the woman was shocked to 
discover her 8-year-old child had gotten into her supply of drugs and 
tested positive for meth.

"Methamphetamine has had a devastating impact on women in particular," 
Parker said. "Eight years ago, there would have been four or five women in 
the county jail for bad checks or shoplifting. Today, there are 25 to 30 
women because of meth. These women are physically devastated."

Stacey Neeley, director of Court Referral programs, said heavy meth users 
put in jail have been known to eat the scabs on their arms because the body 
secretes meth from pores trying to get rid of the toxins.

"The people who cook and sell meth have another addiction to break, the 
lifestyle of making money," Neeley said. "Unlike marijuana or cocaine, 
every meth addict could be dealing it. A study was done to determine why 
meth is so concentrated in this area. I think part of it is being a rural 
area where people are able to cook in seclusion without the foul smell 
being noticed."

"The addict has to do all the work to get better," Parker said, "but with 
the right guidance and mentoring, he or she can come out of addiction as 
normal as anyone else. Addiction is a mental and emotional disease. Our 
system of law enforcement, the courts, court referral and treatment 
providers, are in a united effort to beat this very cruel addiction."
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