Highlights From Past DPFOK Forums

Bauer works with Oklahoma Citizen Advocates for Treatment and Recovery (OCARTA). In her forceful and convincing style of speaking she told the audience that "slapping a drug offender in jail is like putting a Band Aid on a person who needs stitches." She knows what she is talking about from personal experience. Abused by her father during her growing up years, she slowly descended into addiction and mental pain so severe she almost ended her life through suicide, Yet after all the suffering she was able to be rehabilitated.

She made the point that fear of the law or punishment or even death does not automatically bring addicts to the place where they want to get help. They use many tactics for avoiding the problem. They may deny they have a problem at all, or blame someone else for it. Well meaning friends and family members may even contribute to the pain by ignoring it or somehow enabling the behavior to continue. But out of all the confusion and trauma can come a solution. To re-enforce her belief in rehabilitation Bauer brought two brothers with her to the meeting, the youngest a sophomore in college. He told about passing out in school one time as a teenager. But he got help in time.

Bauer says that we we need to talk with our children about drugs long, long before they get to high school, or even middle school. Having said this, the difficulty is that most parents are not qualified to offer their children informed advice. "Get the kids before they get to the judge," she advises. And tell them as soon as they can understand it, "Be too smart to start." Bauer believes it would be a gigantic step forward if we as a society could accept and act on the simple fact that drug addiction, whether it’s to alcohol,cocaine, prescription drugs, or anything else . is a disease and not a crime. That one realization would clear the air, decrease the confusion, and provide the basis for improving treatment. She is convinced "We ought to bring treatment into the open. Recovery is a reality!" She thinks that right now we are "so stuck in the problem we can’t see the solution." But for rehabilitation to be the answer two factors are important-- time and money. Bauer knows from her own experience that that 30 days in jail or anywhere else is hardly enough to make for significant change even in individuals eager to turn their lives around. She suggests it can take more than a year of treatment for the brain to regain its lost ability to manufacture neuro- transmitters.

Widespread use of rehabilitation rather than incarceration would save money because there would be fewer repeat offenders. Right now full scale rehab are quite expensive. at places like Valley Hope in Cushing it can be more than $10,000 a month , and remember the minimum time for a good outcome is six months. Without a national health insurance system, few can afford that, and ordinary health insurance would not pay either.

In conclusion, the speaker said Oklahomans need to continue to support taxes on liquor and cigarettes so more money can go to drug treatment programs. She also encouraged citizens to talk about all these issues in our community every chance we get and contact our legislators.

Representative Terry Ingmire’s number is 1-405-521-5572. The next meeting of the Drug Policy Forum to which the public is always welcome, is Wednesday, 7 p.m., January 19, 324 W. 7th St. (7th and Duck) downtown Stillwater. (Article by Alvena Bieri)

METHAMPHETAMINE: SHOULD WE PROHIBIT OR LEGALIZE?

One young man addicted to meth got so bad that towards the end his family didn’t want anything to do with him. He ended up shooting a man and being sentenced to life without parole. Johnson said, "He’ll spend the rest of his life in prison for what is really a meth addiction problem." Another client was on meth the night he killed his father by stabbing him 13 times. Johnson observed, "When reporters talk of murder they only give the facts of what happened- they don’t talk about the drugs, the drinking, the meth." Johnson was astonished that he was getting some 200 drug cases a year.

He explained that anybody can become addicted. He mentioned the case of a good looking couple from good families who he had known since high school. The parents had good jobs, one mother was a school teacher. Once addicted they ran up thousands on their credit cards, wreaked their S.U.V. and lost their jobs. Suddenly their lives were a shambles. Even their house was destroyed by cooking meth- all in a matter of a few months.

He told of a woman in her mid 30's. She was so addicted she couldn't keep her own children, who were turned over to DHS custody. She became addicted the first time she experimented with "bathtub" methamphetamine. Clients on meth often look like emaciated inmates of a German concentration camp. Meth eliminates appetite and addicts simply go without food. Johnson commented, "After treatment some recover and look so much better that it's difficult to recognize them."

He explained that because of meth it’s common for grandparents to raise grandchildren... that the children suffer the most. He talked about a school system that started a “back pack” program. Because parents on meth don't attend to the needs of their children they just don't eat well and don't perform well in school especially on Mondays. The school began to send children home with back packs filled with food on Friday so they would have something to eat on the weekends.

He explained that even his secretary became addicted to meth. Though he knew a lot about drugs he was unable to notice anything wrong. In some cases it is impossible for any one but a professional to detect the signs of drug use and even professionals can be fooled. He said Sequoyah County is one of the most progressive counties in relation to enlightened drug policy issues. He is surprised that larger, better educated, richer counties are not doing as well as Sequoyah County. ( Payne, Noble, Cleveland, Logan) Every county needs good drug courts, good District Attorneys, good judges who understand that the problem of addiction is not a moral failure. All need to know that addiction is as real a disease as any physical sickness. He commented, "Most state officials involved have come to understand this. But it hasn’t trickled down to the judges and the D.A.’s. Too many find political success in raging against drugs, maintaining a law and order position, insisting on sending addicts to prison, insisting against all common sense that addicts stop being addicted. It defies all common sense from a financial as well as a community standpoint."

He continued, "When you send these people off to prison they can’t work, they can’t support their kids, they can’t keep their family together. If you want to keep the family and the fabric of the community together, we have to keep addicts in the community where they can with help be productive. We have to make sure they get off meth. Prison needs to be a last resort rather than the first option. The attitude of D.A.’s and law enforcement that by God we’re going to do something about these drugs is unrealistic and counter productive," Johnson claimed, "We need more Drug Rehabs. If addicts can stay in the community they can stay in touch with their families. They might be even able to work. The use of meth destroys the natural ability of the brain to produce neurotransmitters that are responsible for feelings of well being. The brain requires 18 months or longer to recoup its ability to produce natural neurotransmitters. That’s why short term treatment programs do not work. We need more long term treatment programs. We need more treatment." Johnson explained, "I’m not for legalization, I’m for helping people. There are ways of helping that are less expensive than putting them in prison. It’s more productive for our communities. It’s more productive for our whole state. We can actually save money by rehabbing these people rather than sending them to prison." Johnson ended his presentation by saying,"I hope that’s what our D.A.’s and judges will start learning. I hope that’s what we’ll start doing more of. I’m going to do what I can to support such efforts. I know most of you will to."

Drug Prohibition: The Libertarian Perspective

One person in the audience pointed out that, “The only reason weeds are worth their weight in gold is that they are illegal.” Atherton explained that, “Many people who simply use drugs for recreational or medical purposes are stigmitized for life by our justice system which prosecutes these people and labels them as felons. Not only are they affected mentally by incarceration, disdain from their family members perhaps, and developing a disrespect for authority and the law, but are forever made less employable in our mainstream economy, thus driving them to take part in the underground economy and putting them at further risk for addiction and future incarceration.” Atherton went on to point out that many of the drugs which are villified today, such as cocaine and marijuana, were legal treatments which could be purchased over the counter less than a hundred years ago, and urged those in attendance to think about how these drugs were made illegal in the first place. Highly recommended by Atherton, ‘A Drug War Carol’ is a new book by Susan W. Wells and Scott Bieser which presents a history of drug prohibition in the United States (http://adrugwarcarol.com/ADWC.php).

Atherton began by asking those in attendance, “How would you define a victimless crime?” One member of the audience defined a ‘victimless crime’ as a crime which is solely against the morals of the ruling class –breaking a law which has been written to ensure obedience to such morals and codes of personal conduct in instances where the only percieved ‘victim’ is one’s self. Atherton suggests that we think about using altenative terms when dealing with the concept of a ‘victimless crime’ stating that, “Peter McWilliams writes that we should not use the term ‘victimless crime’, but instead stir people’s thinking by saying ‘consensual activity between adults’ or ‘consensual activity amongst adults’. I still use the term ‘victimless crime’ to point out that there is no victim – there is no one who has been victimized by your activity.” Ms. Atherton went on to point out that many citizens say that, “’The families are hurt , the people that love the person are hurt because they don’t want the person to do those things or, worse yet, they might get into trouble with the law.’ This is true to an extent, but if we chose to use those criteria we start to slide down a slippery slope. Every fellow who has ever broken up with a girl has hurt her and every woman who has ever broken up with her fiance has hurt him, so should we punish that?” Atherton went on to list many other examples which fit into this category such as smoking and gambling – activities which some might find repugnant, but which there is much debate as to whether or not the government has the right to pass legislation against. Next Atherton asked,“Who owns you?” The consensus of the room was that you have ownership of yourself. “Libertarians assert that we own ourselves. If we hold this concept to be true, we must logically conclude that it is absurd to pass laws which preclude such self-ownership. If you own yourself, you have the right to pursue your own dreams and make decisions regarding your own life. Self-ownership is fundamental to this idea.” Atherton went on to state that this is the primary reasoning which leads the Libertarian Party to take it’s position that we must bring the “War on Drugs” to an end.

DPFOK Hears From Those In Doubt OF DARE

Former Narc Speaks to DPFOK