Pubdate: Sun, 12 Jun 2005
Source: Picayune Item (MS)
Copyright: 2005 The Picayune Item
Contact:  http://www.picayuneitem.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1309
Author: John Mcmullan

FIGHTING DRUG ADDICTION

A Closer Look

Drugs in Pearl River County have been a thorn in the side of law 
enforcement and the courts for many years, but thanks to an aggressive 
stance by authorities on a local as well as on the state level, the efforts 
are paying off.

Donald Butler, interim director of the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics, 
said aggressive enforcement efforts by the Picayune and Poplarville police 
departments, the Pearl River County Sheriff's Office and the District 
Attorney's Office are helping to curb the problem.

"I think we're making progress," he said.

One of those efforts is a task force comprised of Stone and Pearl River 
counties and headed by the MBN, Butler said.

"They have made a lot of good cases and I think we're seeing the results of 
this," he said.

While there is no prevalent drug in the county, Butler said marijuana, 
crack cocaine, methamphetamine and ICE or "smokeable methamphetamine" seem 
to be the drugs that cause the most problems for law enforcement agencies.

"We have made great strides in the enforcement in that area," he said.

Butler said there are several alternatives for misdemeanor drug suspects 
besides jail, including house arrest and drug courts, but believes there is 
only one alternative for major violators.

"I believe a good stiff sentence in the jail is the place for 'em," he said.

Butler said judges such as Judge Michael R. Eubanks and R.I. Prichard III 
are doing a good job of making sure offenders receive stiff sentences.

"They meet our justice," he said.

Butler said the costs of putting a drug offender behind bars is a 
tremendous tax burden on the taxpayers and said his agency recognizes that. 
But the alternative, he said, is more crime.

"A very large percent of the inmates incarcerated now - between 80 and 85 
percent - they're in there in regards to a drug-related crime," he said.

Butler said the MBN saw over a 70 percent increase in case production over 
the past year due to a reorganization of structure under Gov. Haley Barbour.

"We're going to continue to stress for very aggressive enforcement of the 
drug laws," he said.

He said more of a cooperative atmosphere between the public officials in 
the county and the MBN have led to better enforcement of the drug laws.

"We have more cooperation there than we do in a lot of counties," he said.

Education and treatment key

Pearl River County District Attorney Claiborne "Buddy" McDonald said the 
effort with respect to drugs is three-pronged: prevention through school 
programs; treatment for those who become addicted; and enforcement for 
those who do not seek help.

"By the time they get to us, most of them are pretty much on the bottom of 
the rung, so to speak, in that they're out of control with respect to being 
able to control their addiction," he said.

McDonald said his office sees three types of offenders: those who are in 
possession of drugs; and those who are selling drugs either to support 
their habit or to make money.

McDonald said his office works with the two police departments in the 
county as well as the MBN and enforcement efforts include those arrested 
for drugs during traffic stops to multi-state drug trafficking offenses.

There are several considerations the judge weighs when an offender goes to 
court, McDonald said, including how the offender got where he is and what 
is the best way to deal with him if he is an addict.

"Of course, by the time he gets to that point, punishment is a factor 
involved in this," he said.

Judges have a wide variety of options in sentencing drug offenders, 
McDonald said, including drug treatment courses and programs such as Homes 
of Grace and ACT.

The judge usually requires the offender to go to Narcotics Anonymous after 
they complete one of the programs, McDonald said.

Faith-based programs also work very well because they provide support and 
have someone who is willing to work long-term with the person, McDonald said.

McDonald said while programs, treatment courses and prison are viable 
solutions, it all comes down to the addict wanting to get help and that 
usually comes when he has lost everything - family, job, health and friends.

"A lot of people, you can have a thousand programs and you can have all 
kinds of sentences, the only solution is for the person to realize they 
have to quit using narcotics," he said. "That's an individual's decision 
and something that can't necessarily be forced on them."

Medical issues often arise as a result of drug addiction, such as Hepatitis 
C, AIDS and tuberculosis, McDonald said.

There is a desperate need for a resident drug rehabilitation facility for 
juveniles and adults in Pearl River County, McDonald said.

"These are expensive and there is not a lot of money being spent on drug 
rehab at the present time," he said.

New laws help fight problem

One bright spot in combating the recent crush of methamphetamine is a new 
state law that goes into effect July 1.

Under the law, which Sen. Sid Albritton was responsible for writing the 
language for, takes pseudoephedrine, the main ingredient used in the 
manufacture of the drug and places them behind-the-counter, behind a locked 
case or under video or personal surveillance. It also limits the number of 
prescription medications a person can get and photo identification has to 
be shown when purchased.

Albritton said customers are limited to buying two packages at a time and 
package size cannot exceed three grams.

The law is patterned after a law passed last year in Oklahoma but is not as 
restrictive, Albritton said.

"It (the Oklahoma law) took all cold medicines except for liquid and some 
gel caps out of regular stores and if they have ephedrine or 
pseudoephedrine, they can only be sold out of a pharmacy by a pharmacist or 
a pharmacy tech," he said.

Albritton said bills from all over the nation were studied and the best 
elements dealing with pseudoephedrine were taken for the Mississippi law.

"We passed other legislation to combat the methamphetamine problem, but 
this bill dealt specifically with the pseudoephedrine and ephedrine issue," 
he said. "We wanted the most productive but least restrictive law that we 
could come up with," he said.

He said the state law puts more restrictions on tablet forms where 
pseudoephedrine or ephedrine is the only active ingredient in order to 
relieve the burden of having to lock up all cold medications.

"What it's done is it's going to make it harder for them to be able to buy 
the pseudoephedrine that's used to manufacture meth," said Lt. Chris Lott 
with the Pearl River County Sheriff's Department.

Lott, who is certified through OSHA and the Network Environmental Services 
for the clean-up of methamphetamine labs and as an instructor, said the 
medication will either be kept in a locked cabinet or behind the counter, 
the person wanting it will have to show identification and the store 
selling the medication will have to keep a log for a year.

"At any time during the year, someone from the Bureau of Narcotics or 
narcotics division can go to the store and request to review their logs of 
who's buying pseudoephedrine," he said.

Lott said a person who has purchased more than 250 dosage units in one 
month, either from one store or different stores, he can be charged under 
the new statute.

"This is going to be a huge help," he said.

Lott said the precursor chemicals list now includes any two items that can 
be mixed to make a precursor.

"They put some pretty open literature in there where as they come up with 
new methods to manufacture methamphetamine, it's covered on the enforcement 
side as long as there is an expert witness," he said.

McDonald said children in the presence where methamphetamine labs are being 
operated also is problem in the county.

"A lot of times you'll see these children there ... running around in a 
diaper," he said. "They're running around in a place almost naked where the 
officers are going in with breathing apparatuses and hazmat suits because 
they don't want to get the stuff on them."

McDonald said while punishment has to be part of the formula, the solution 
is "to get people off drugs and keep people from getting on drugs," he said.

"Once they get far enough along to be in the criminal justice system, that 
aspect of it has failed and you have to start from scratch," he said.

McDonald said the county is in need of a third circuit court judge. A bill 
in the legislature to provide a judge was derailed primarily because of 
financial problems in the state, but the district attorney's office did get 
another assistant district attorney.

"If we had the third judge, we may also be able to try drug court, which 
are being started in areas of the state," he said. "I would like to try 
that in our district, but the problem we have right now with only two 
judges, their time is totally wrapped up in trying to handling the 
enforcement they have right now."

McDonald said they will try again next year to get a third judge.

There is help for addicts

Chief Deputy Aaron Russell Jr. with the Pearl River County Sheriff's Office 
said his office deals with drugs on a consistent basis and the consequences 
it leaves.

"One of the hardest aspects of it is dealing with drug-related deaths," he 
said. "When that occurs, often times the surviving family members are 
looking for answers, they're looking for somebody to blame."

The sheriff's office has formed working relationships with surrounding 
agencies inside and outside the county in order to share information and 
stop dealers who are trafficking drugs across county lines.

He said the drugs the department sees the most are marijuana, cocaine, 
ecstasy and methamphetamine, and added that prescription drug abuse also 
has become an epidemic in the county.

There are several programs for people seeking help for drug addiction 
around the Pearl River County area. One of those is the ACTS (Alcohol 
Chemical Treatment Series) program at the First United Pentecostal Church 
of Picayune.

The national faith-based program, which is in every state and 12 countries 
and endorsed by the United Pentecostal Church International, has been at 
the church for about 10 years, said the church's pastor, Rev. Wayne Wilson.

Wilson said within recent years, the Mississippi Department of Corrections 
has begun using the program.

"If a person comes through the judicial system ... and if they have to do a 
drug program, they cannot be made to come to our program, being it's 
faith-based, but normally they're given a choice," he said.

Wilson said they work closely with the Pearl River County District 
Attorney's Office, area judges and probation officers.

"Basically we're considered a county drug program," he said.

Wilson said offenders are usually offered the state program which is held 
at Parchman or the ACTS program in Picayune.

Those who choose the ACTS program are given probation with the 
understanding that they must complete the program, Wilson said. "They have 
got to through our program the way our rules, our guidelines are set up," 
he said.

The program has received a letter of recommendation from the Pearl River 
County Circuit Court that stated the program has had a 93 percent success 
rate, which Wilson said is due to follow-up

Participants must undergo drug testing, and those results are made 
available to judges and probation officers, Wilson said.

The program has been so successful that it has introduced into the Pearl 
River County Jail, where it is held on Tuesday nights. The program also is 
held on Wednesday nights at First United Pentecostal Church of Picayune.

The class currently has about 40 participants, and more are on a waiting 
list, he said. "I am told that there are probably 90 that would like to get 
in it right now," he said.
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