Pubdate: Thu, 05 Feb 1998 Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Contact: Fax: (414) 224-8280 Website: http://www.jsonline.com/ Author: Eugene Kane of the Journal Sentinel Author contact: ESCAPING DRUGS' SHADOW IS A STRUGGLE His vision of reporters was of a pack of hounds scurrying around for any hint of scandal. In the wake of so many public disgraces going around, it is a private one most on my mind. The latest public scandal involved Gary Barczak, the Milwaukee County clerk of circuit court, who pleaded guilty to drug charges in front of a community where almost everybody knows his name. And don't forget our president, Bill Clinton, seemingly always just steps away from smearing his historic legacy on account of private demons that apparently drive him over the edge into recklessness. But the situation I'm thinking about belongs to a friend I had not seen in a while before last month's phone call. What he wanted was advice. Recently chosen to fill a challenging new position in Milwaukee, he wasn't feeling much satisfaction. All he felt was dread. The fear of being found out. "I had a problem," is the way he put it. The problem was crack cocaine, same as Barczak. But instead of winding up on the embarrassing side of a sting operation, he managed to overcome his addiction quietly with the help of a drug rehabilitation program. His problem with crack came at a low point in his life, professionally and personally. During the time he was using, like all addicts, he spent time with unsavory types, the kind of people with an interest in keeping him hooked along with them. Now that he was clean and headed down a new path, his biggest anxiety came from knowing, somewhere out there, his former drug buddies might betray him. "I just want to know, in regards to my job, should I be worried about this?" His confession surprised me, although it shouldn't have. As I've written in this space before, so many friends and family members of mine have been overcome by this insidious form of 'pure' cocaine, I should know by now no one is immune to this drug. He was seeking my advice as a journalist, but also as a friend. This is what I told him: Despite your job, you still have a right to privacy. During your sojourn into the world of illegal drug use, you were never arrested or charged with possession, so there is no criminal record to be revealed. >From a journalistic perspective, as long as you don't relapse, get arrested or charged with drug possession, there is no news angle here. He seemed surprised at my opinion. Like most people, I think his vision of reporters was of a pack of hounds scurrying around for any hint of scandal, ready to embarrass and harass good people out of their careers. The truth is there are whispers about lots of prominent people in Milwaukee concerning drug use and other behavior. Usually, there has to be an angle, preferably a legal one, for the media to pursue a story. Barczak would not be front page news if he hadn't been arrested. Clinton's troubles are connected more to a suspicion of perjury than an affair with a White House intern. Frankly, my friend is not that big a name in town yet. If he continues his good work and raises his profile, his dark past might become something that needed to be addressed. For now, I told him, it didn't seem newsworthy. His sigh of relief was palatable over the phone; I could tell this had been haunting him. His last worry: What about all the people I used to get high with? What if one of them tries to expose me? This time, the answer was not based on journalistic ethics. I just told him what my mother used to tell me, a long time ago. If you are really worried about someone seeing you do something you're ashamed of, don't do it.