Missouri Methamphetamine Control Strategy. Samantha Rue

Transcription

1 2012 Missouri Methamphetamine Control Strategy Samantha Rue

2 The production, sale, and use of methamphetamine have become an all too common occurrence in the state of Missouri. To help combat the consequences of methamphetamine use, the state should focus on five key areas: Identifying the extent of the consequences of methamphetamine use on its users, as well as the community and state as a whole Stopping methamphetamine use before it starts by employing more effective prevention methods than are currently in place Identifying and treating methamphetamine users Diverting and rehabilitating methamphetamine users Disrupting the production and trafficking of methamphetamine within as well as outside the state An assessment of these key areas is described in the following text. Nature & Extent of the Methamphetamine Problem in Missouri In a 2006 feature for Frontline, Rep. Mark Souder of Indiana, said that he did not believe the Bush Administration s Drug Czar s statement that methamphetamine only represented 8% of drug use in America. According to Souder, 80% of inmates were meth addicts in some prisons in his congressional district. Souder tells the interviewer, I believe that the number is higher, I believe that the impact is higher, I believe it is catastrophic in regional areas and that the statistical methods that they are using are wrong It has led them to miss what is probably the biggest drug epidemic in the last couple years because their whole models and constructs are wrong (The Meth Epidemic, 2006). Samantha Rue 1

3 A rise in methamphetamine use on the East coast has caused Congress to discover that methamphetamine is more of a problem than they previously thought. Incidents are close to catastrophic levels here in Missouri, and throughout other portions of the Midwest. According to the National Drug Intelligence Center National Drug Threat Survey in 2010, 57% of federal, state, and local law enforcement believed that methamphetamine posed the greatest risk to their jurisdiction. Since 2003, Missouri has consistently held the top spot in the U.S. for the total methamphetamine laboratory incidents discovered in each state (King, 2011). As you can see from Figure 1, 1,917 incidents were discovered in Missouri in 2010, accounting for 17% of the total 11,239 meth incidents in the country. The Missouri counties with the highest rate of methamphetamine incidences are typically located in the St. Louis area, Jefferson County being the highest in 2010; see Figure 2 (National Drug Intelligence Center, 2010). According to Columbia s Missourian, these statistics can be somewhat misleading. Even though our state has found the highest number of labs, it does not necessarily mean that we have the most abundant supply of the drug in the nation. For example in 2007, law enforcement seized 1,189 labs and confiscated roughly 40 kilograms of meth, while in California only 221 labs were seized but those labs yielded 1,958 kilograms of meth, almost 50 times more than Missouri (Neal& Mueller, 2008). Most of the far-reaching distribution of meth is the result of trafficking from outside the state s borders, and often originates in Mexico. Often the methamphetamine produced within the state is for small-scale distribution among a group that works together to create a new batch. A study by the University of Alabama found that small-scale operations in Missouri and Arkansas form hierarchical groups, with methamphetamine cooks holding the Samantha Rue 2

4 highest status (Jenkot, 2008). According to that same study, many property crimes are simply a result of the cook expressing a want or need, and another group member finding a way to provide it; as one research subject put it, I remember this one cook s car broke down and she asked for a Thunderbird. So [someone,] I know goes out and steals one bingo! The cook is happy again (Jenkot, 2008). Prevention Stopping Methamphetamine Use Before it Starts One of the advantages that we have in preventing methamphetamine use is that it is relatively easy for individuals to notice physical signs of long-term use. Gordon Taylor, assistant special agent in charge of the Drug Enforcement Agency Sacramento office says, I tell [young people], if you want to become badly emaciated, lose your teeth, damage your hair, break out with acne, become extremely paranoid and possibly even die, then methamphetamine is the drug for you. (Neal& Mueller, 2008). However, this is just one slight advantage among a host of disadvantages. Methamphetamine production yields huge financial profits for those who are skilled enough to evade law enforcement, and a great sense of power can be gained from becoming a praised cook within a meth-using community. For Missouri to decrease the number of first-time users, it must adopt an effective prevention method. A combination of school and community programs will be implemented in areas that display a high risk for methamphetamine use. Any school that currently has a drug-prevention plan in place will be required to add methamphetamine prevention to the current curriculum. Community programs, including public service announcements, should be aimed at key transition points, such as the transition to middle and high school. [These types of programs] have proven effective, even among high-risk Samantha Rue 3

5 families and children (MethResources.gov). All programs should be research-based, because as history tells us, fear-based programs are highly ineffective. In addition, programs should include guidelines for teacher training, interactivity (role-playing, peer discussion groups, etc.), and long-term planning (MethResources.gov). Intervention and Treatment Identifying and Healing Methamphetamine Users Missouri should increase funding for drug courts because of their positive effects on recidivism rates. One example is a 2006 study of nine California drug courts showed that drug court graduates had recidivism rates of 17 percent, while a comparison group who did not participate in drug court had recidivism rates of 41 percent (National Drug Intelligence Center, 2010). Drug courts are better equipped than local criminal courts to analyze the extent of substance abuse within the life of each individual, and can help form a more successful rehabilitation/treatment program. In addition to receiving information about treatment programs such as 12-step-type programs, recovering individuals should also be informed about the role technology can have in helping them maintain a drug-free life; for example, they should be referred to helpful groups on Facebook or to forums that provide support from those in similar circumstances. Breaking the Cycle Diverting and Rehabilitating Methamphetamine Users Debbie Vick was a methamphetamine user for many years, in 2006 she told Frontline, I went to treatment, in-patient treatment it was awesome I was gonna get my kids back. I was gonna leave my husband. I was gonna make it. I was gonna be one of that Samantha Rue 4

6 22% that never goes back I wasn t one of that 22%. In 2001, she overdosed, but was lucky enough to survive; however, she lost custody of her children permanently. The rehab/relapse cycle is an all too familiar occurrence in the world of methamphetamine addiction. In order to decrease the recidivism rate, we should not only strive for a reduction of individuals that relapse, but we also need to make rehabilitation efforts more widely accessible to our citizens. In many instances, for example, women will not seek help for drug use because they fear that like Debbie Vick, they will lose their children in the process. Rita Sullivan, director of OnTrack, a treatment center in Medford Oregon believes that most of the time, the vast majority of the time, both the children and the moms do better if they are kept together, so we need to rehabilitate whole families (The Meth Epidemic, 2006). This needs to be our state s policy as well. Children that grow up in drug-using environments are exposed to the lifestyle at such an early age that they view it as normal, and many of these children will end up using or dealing drugs as adults. Without bringing these children into the rehabilitation process, we are failing to treat some of the most at-risk youth in America. Supply Reduction Disrupting Methamphetamine Production & Trafficking Rob Bovett, legal counsel for the Oregon Narcotics Enforcement Association, once said that, "methamphetamine, unlike most other hard drugs out there, is uniquely susceptible to supply side intervention because it's not something you can grow it's something you've gotta cook up in a factory (The Meth Epidemic, 2006). Missouri s current supply reduction plan has been to keep track of which individuals are purchasing the pre-cursor substances that are used to make methamphetamine, such as cold medications that contain the chemical pseudoephedrine. Current law requires Samantha Rue 5

7 pharmacies and other stores to keep these types of cold medications behind the counter, and the stores must also record purchases. In July of 2011, Franklin County passed a bill to require prescriptions to purchase pseudoephedrine; this county s methamphetamine incidence rates will be closely monitored in order to determine whether this could be an effective strategy to apply statewide (Associated Press, 2011). Meanwhile, the method in which stores keep track of purchases must be changed. Implementing a unified electronic reporting format featuring a photo of each consumer would decrease the instances of smurfing, where one individual simply goes down the street to another store and purchases more pseudoephedrine. Conclusion Missouri must take steps to decrease the instances of methamphetamine production and use within the state. By implementing the procedures discussed above, the state can come closer to achieving the goal of ridding the nation of the physical and emotional pain caused methamphetamine. Samantha Rue 6

8 Resources Associated Press. (2011, July 13). Franklin County passes meth bill. Retrieved August 2, 2011, from The Sullivan Journal Online: local_news/article_545eee74-ad9b-11e0-bb4a-001a4bcf6878.html. Jenkot, R. (2008)."cooks are like gods": hierarchies in methamphetamine-producing groups. Deviant Behavior, King, N. (2011, March). Straight Dope. The American Conservative, pp MethResources.gov. (n.d.). Prevention. Retrieved August 2, 2011, from MethResources.gov: National Drug Intelligence Center. (2010, February). Impact of Drugs on Society - National Drug Threat Assessment Retrieved August 2, 2011, from National Drug Intelligence Center: National Drug Intelligence Center. (2010, June 17). Midwest High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Market Analysis Retrieved August 2, 2011, from National Drug Intelligence Center: Neal, R., & Mueller, N. (2008, February 26). Missouri: Not the meth capital. Retrieved August 2, 2011, from The Columbia Missourian: stories/2008/02/26/missouri-not-meth-capital. Byker, C. (Producer).(2006). The Meth Epidemic [Motion Picture]. United States of America: Public Broadcasting Service. United States Drug Enforcement Administration. (2011). Methamphetamine Lab Incidents, Retrieved August 2, 2011, from U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration: Samantha Rue 7