Pubdate: Sat, 14 Dec 2013
Source: Pahrump Valley Times (NV)
Copyright: 2013 Pahrump Valley Times
Contact:  http://www.pahrumpvalleytimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1531
Author: Kelsey Givens

JUST SAY DOPE!: ILLEGAL DRUG USE CHOKING PAHRUMP JUSTICE SYSTEM; 
COSTS TAXPAYERS MILLIONS

"Nobody wakes up one day and says I'm going to be a drug addict or an 
alcoholic. It's just something that happens; it's a disease."

Jake Wachtel, an alumnus of the Pahrump Drug Court, tells people this 
all the time when he's sharing his own story of overcoming addiction.

Addiction is a powerful and life-altering force that can lead even 
those with the strongest resolve down a dark and life-changing path. 
It's an issue that affects all types of people, from all walks of 
life, in communities of all sizes across the nation - Pahrump is not immune.

According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, substance abuse 
costs the United States more than $193 billion a year in crime, lost 
work productivity and drug-related health care expenses combined.

The state of Nevada is no exception, boasting one of the highest 
percentages of people who admit to abusing drugs in the last year, an 
estimated 10 percent of the population in 2009, according to the most 
recent figures from the Office of National Drug Control Policy. The 
state ranked among the top 12 in the nation for the percentage of 
people who admitted drug use in the past month.

Stimulants, particularly methamphetamine, seem to be the drug of 
choice for Nevadans.

Just like in almost every corner of the state, Nye County's courts 
and jails are full of drug addicts.

Drugs in Pahrump - Keeping it Rural

According to criminal complaints filed by the Nye County District 
Attorney's office since January 2012, approximately one-third, about 
31 percent, of all criminal cases filed by the local district 
attorney's office were drug related.

Complaints collected by the Pahrump Valley Times show that 
approximately 756 of 2,404 cases filed by the district attorney's 
office during that time contained charges related to the use, sale, 
possession, or trafficking of illegal substances.

Methamphetamine, prescription pills, marijuana and heroin are among 
the most common controlled substances Nye County Sheriff's deputies 
see on the streets of this town.

According to NCSO arrest reports collected by the PVT, illegally held 
prescription pills were found in 141 arrests, meth in 149 arrests, 
heroin in 58 arrests, cocaine in nine arrests and marijuana in 140 
arrests from January 2012 to Monday of this week. And those five 
substances together made up 91.5 percent of all illegal drugs found 
over the last two years.

"It's a huge problem," says Fifth Judicial District Court Judge 
Kimberly Wanker, who also oversees the Pahrump Drug Court. "We see 
methamphetamine, heroin, marijuana, cocaine...I was pumping gas the 
other day and I saw a drug deal go down. I've seen them go down in 
the parking lot at Walmart. I think it might be because I know what 
to look for, but it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure this 
out. If you read the police reports, which I get in the case files I 
read, where do these things occur? They take place at the gas 
station, they occur in the parking lots of fast food restaurants, in 
the parking lots of Smith's and Albertson's and about any place you go.

"It's pretty bold the things they will do."

Paul Rozario, assistant special agent in charge of the Las Vegas Drug 
Enforcement Administration field office, says meth, heroin and 
prescription pills have become a growing problem for communities all 
over the United States, especially in Southern Nevada over the last 
several years.

"Obviously methamphetamine is huge, more so than any other drug 
probably other than marijuana. Really, the two big problems we have 
are methamphetamine and the abuse of prescription medication. With 
the abuse of prescription drugs you're talking about Oxycontin, 
Hydrocodone, drugs that are being diverted from legitimate medical 
use for addicts and people getting high off those drugs. And what 
happens is when people can't afford to support those habits, the 
addict will then go toward heroin," he said.

Rozario explained that part of the reason behind the increase in 
heroin use is it's a cheaper version of the same high addicts can get 
with expensive prescription medications.

"When they can't afford the cost of prescription medications on the 
black market, or if they can't get those prescription medications 
from any sort of legitimate way, what they do, because the pills are 
much more expensive than say heroin, what they'll end up doing is 
they'll proceed to get that high somehow and move toward heroin," the 
DEA agent said. "Because what Oxycotin or Hydrocodone is is basically 
a prescription opiate. So you're trying to get the same effect at a 
cheaper price and that's why they move toward heroin."

Who is Affected?

Wachtel, a member of the local Drug Court Alumni Club, said he knows 
exactly what it feels like to be among those statistics.

He was addicted to meth for nearly 20 years before his last run-in 
with the law forced him to join the Drug Court here in Pahrump where 
he was finally able to get clean and sober.

"I used meth for about 20 years, every day. It was like my morning 
cup of coffee. I would get up in the morning, get shot up and then go 
to work. I didn't think it was harmful; I mean I wasn't out robbing 
anybody so what was the big deal? And that was all I knew. I didn't 
think I would ever stop until I died," he said.

Wachtel says although he didn't recognize that he had a problem at 
the time, when he came before Judge Robert Lane, who helped launch 
Pahrump's now-overflowing Drug Court, on a criminal matter several 
years ago, one that didn't even involve the use of drugs, the judge 
placed him in the program.

"Judge Lane sentenced me to three years' probation, a year suspended 
sentence and threw in a year of Drug Court and I wasn't even on a 
drug charge," he said. "Judge Lane obviously saw something that I 
didn't notice. I didn't think I looked all torn up or anything, and I 
was not happy. I was looking at my lawyer like what the heck? But I 
did it, I did it reluctantly."

Although he wasn't thrilled about being placed in Drug Court at 
first, Wachtel said it was one of the best things that has ever 
happened to him.

The program's strict guidelines and structure for recovering addicts 
was able to help him not only stop using meth, but to do other things 
he hadn't been able to accomplish while using drugs. Even simple 
chores such as getting his truck registered, getting his driver's 
license back, all became miraculously easy tasks.

"It's hard at first because you're used to not doing anything, just 
doing your own thing and then all of the sudden someone's telling you 
what you have to do, and you fight it, but that's just that human 
nature I guess," he said. "But my life is a lot better now. I've got 
a job, I just got a company credit card, I got my driver's license 
and my truck registered and insured in my own name. I drove on a 
suspended driver's license for 12 years and I finally got it back 
thanks to Drug Court."

Although staying clean and sober two years out isn't easy, Wachtel 
said he wouldn't do anything to compromise the life he has now.

"I fight the urge to go get high every day still and I've been sober 
for over two years," the recovering addict says. "Don't get me wrong, 
when I was getting high I really loved it. I started slamming it and 
that feeling is great, but it only lasts for so long. The feeling 
I've got now will last for the rest of my life and that's great ... 
Just because you stop using dope doesn't mean that your life is going 
to all of a sudden change and be Mary Poppins and all this other 
stuff, but you learn how to deal with life on life's terms, that's 
what I learned."

While some may still say the only people drug abuse affects is the 
person subjecting themselves to those substances, local law 
enforcement officials feel otherwise.

District Attorney Brian Kunzi said in email response to questions for 
this story that "I have no hard numbers to show, but those of us in 
the law enforcement community believe most (criminal) cases have some 
connection to drug use.

"Many drug users fund their addiction by committing crimes like 
burglary and theft."

Wanker agreed, adding, "The crime may not be a drug offense, but it 
is a product of the person being high on drugs. Home invasions, 
theft, burglary ... Almost everyone will tell you that in the PSI, or 
pre-sentence investigation report, they're interviewed, which is not 
open for the public to review, but they'll say yes I was under the 
influence of this or this. It's a huge problem."

Daniel Cox, president of the local Drug Court Alumni Club, admitted 
he was one of those individuals who came to the Drug Court after 
addiction led to arrest several years ago.

"I asked the judge if I could be enrolled in Drug Court because I 
recognized that I had a drug problem. And I was facing a number of 
charges, not only drug charges but criminal charges, so I enrolled 
myself in the Drug Court," he explained. "But now I'll be off 
probation next month after three years."

The Heart of the Matter

Sheriff Tony DeMeo says government needs to start looking at the root 
of the drug problem. In order to end the cycle of repeat offenses, 
the sheriff says, the root cause of a suspect's reason for going out 
and committing crimes - their addiction - must be treated.

"You can't arrest someone out of addiction," the sheriff said during 
an interview earlier this year. "If you commit the crime, the crime 
is the crime you commit. But the thing is they're dealing with social 
issues, like mental illness, drug addiction and so on and so forth. 
And outside of the crime, those are really medical problems, they're 
all listed in the DMS3, or the DMS4 or DMS5 now, which is the 
psychiatric manual ... Whenever we declare a war on something we 
haven't been very successful with that. It's just one of those 
things. I remember Lyndon B. Johnson declaring a war on poverty, 
there's still poverty. (Richard) Nixon declared a war on drugs; we 
still have a drug problem."

Although local organizations like the Drug Court and Westcare help 
people break the cycle of addiction, the problem persists.

Kunzi said one way to potentially lessen drug issues in the future is 
the continued prosecution of those supplying illegal substances to 
the community and to find ways to lessen the demand for the products 
in the first place.

"If we want to stop the merry-go-round, we need to reduce the demand 
our society has for illegal drugs. Unfortunately, the market system 
rules work for the drug culture as well as how they work for 
legitimate businesses. If there is no demand, there will be nothing 
for someone to sell," he said. "I am a strong proponent of our Drug 
Court. We can reduce the amount of the property crimes that are being 
committed if we can successfully get the person to kick their 
addiction. Throwing drug users in jail does not address their 
addiction problems and, even if incarcerated, they return with the 
same addiction as before. The Drug Court model helps give the 
offender the motivation to clean up his or her life and leads to more 
successful behavior modification because we are directly addressing 
the addiction."

Cox, Wachtel, Terry Leonard, treasurer of the local Drug Court Alumni 
Club, and David Huffines, also a member of the organization, share 
their experiences hoping to prevent others from traveling down the same path.

"Our biggest goal, what most of us got this started for, was actually 
to get a chance to go to the high school and talk to the teenagers 
about drugs and alcohol, because that for me is where I started was 
when I was a teen in high school," Cox said. "We can relate to them. 
And I know there are a few out there right now, at this moment, who 
are probably loaded and that's scary."

"I was on parole at the time (I was enrolled in Drug Court) and I had 
given a dirty UA (urine test), so my parole officer made me sign up 
for Drug Court and it's still working today. I've been off drugs for 
two years now and life is good today. And now I'm off parole," 
Leonard added. "If we could get to just one person and change their 
life, we're doing our job then."

Although the group has only been together for about a year, they have 
already met with local organizations, like the NyE Communities 
Coalition, to talk with young adults and parents about the dangers of 
drug abuse and addiction.

"Fifteen years ago I lost my best friend to an overdose and I still 
used. I didn't learn from it because, you know, it's a disease," Cox 
said. "I just want the community to know that we're here and we're 
trying to make a step toward something good, getting the word out 
about the use of drugs and alcohol."

The Drug Court Alumni Club members said they hope soon to be able to 
conduct presentations at the local high school to get their message 
to the teenagers in the community as well.

They hope by talking to those who are now the same age they were when 
they began using, they can prevent them from becoming addicts.

"There's free pamphlets (at the WestCare office) for parents and 
grandparents about different kinds of drugs and alcohol and what to 
look for, so they can always come here and get them and educate 
themselves," Leonard added. "That's what the alumni is about."

For more information on the Drug Court Alumni Club or Westcare's 
services, call 775-751-6990.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom