Pubdate: Wed, 31 Mar 2004
Source: McAlester News-Capital & Democrat (OK)
Copyright: McAlester News-Capital & Democrat 2004
Contact: http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=139068&BRD=1126
Website: http://www.mcalesternews.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1892
Author: Doug Russell
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine)

MORE THAN JAIL NEEDED TO FIGHT METH

After two hours of often intense and emotional discussion, they reached an 
agreement. It's going to take more than additional jail time, laws or money 
to beat the methamphetamine problem in Oklahoma.

It's going to take community involvement and a completely holistic approach.

The meeting, one of 16 being held across the 2nd Congressional District, 
was designed for members of Congressman Brad Carson's staff to get 
community input about the problems people see with methamphetamine in their 
area. The meeting was attended by a wide range of people, from an 
elementary school student to silver-haired grandmothers. Officers from the 
Pittsburg County Sheriff's Department, District 16 Narcotics Task Force, 
Drug Enforcement Agency, Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drug 
Control and Kiowa Police Department were on hand during the meeting.

The methamphetamine problem, Theresa McFarland insisted, "is not their 
fault. These guys are doing their jobs.

"I read it in the paper all the time. These guys are fantastic."

However, said Mike Taylor, who identified himself as a former drug addict, 
"All the laws in the world, all the officers in the world, ain't going to 
stop it."

Instead, Taylor said, addicts who want to quit the drug need a place they 
can go 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to talk to other recovering 
addicts. "If you can talk to someone when you're down, when you really need 
that fix, you can get over the feeling."

Pam and Andy Wood, with Break Free Ministries, also said a building such as 
Taylor described could be beneficial. "We need some place people who want 
help can go before they get into treatment or after they come out," Pam 
Wood said. "The treatment centers are full. You have to wait for a bed."

JoAnn Fox, mayor of the Okmulgee County town of Grayson, said a series of 
such centers across the state would probably be a great help in curbing the 
methamphetamine problem. "You could put one in a place that's within a 
30-minute or hour drive of five or six communities," she said.

However, a task force agent noted, "You've got to want to stop."

"We should not be calling methamphetamine a drug," former sheriff Benny 
Durant said. "We should be calling it a poison."

People who use methamphetamine need to realize they really have only one of 
three choices once they start using it, Durant said. "You're going to find 
God and be saved by Him, you're going to go to prison or you're going to 
die at an early age."

When he was sheriff, Durant said, he started a program which had 
methamphetamine addicts talking to other addicts. "It worked, but I 
couldn't get any funding for that" since "the political mentality is just 
lock them up."

Meeting attendees also agreed drug awareness education needs to start 
earlier in school and that the entire community needs to get involved.

"It's going to take a grassroots effort," said Miller Newman. "A holistic 
approach."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom