Pubdate: Sun, 23 Jun 2002 Source: Sun, The (WA) Copyright: 2002 SunLink Contact: http://www.thesunlink.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1424 Author: Julie McCormick, Sun Staff THE METH TOLL The Kitsap County methamphetamine problem menaces nearly every social institution. Here's how meth use costs us all. Claudia Peetz returned from work one night to find her Bremerton home ransacked. Pieces of her broken television littered the front steps. Piles of insulation lay everywhere, pulled from crawl spaces by burglars looking for hidden valuables. Even her dead husband's ashes had been dumped on the floor. "They just went through everything," said Peetz. "It was devastating." Thousands of dollars worth of items were missing, including cherished mementoes from a long marriage. Detectives traced items from the burglary to an addict hooked on methamphetamine. The 19-year.old addict, Brian Bediion, was one of hundreds of meth users and addicts charged with crimes in Kitsap County last year. But the police blotter only begins to tell the story of a drug that kicks the brain into overdrive and shoots habitual users down a long, dark tunnel of uncontrollable craving. There's much more to the problem. Meth also drags kids, spouses, parents, friends and employers of users along on its nightmare ride. Crime victims and cops, neighbors and landlords, social workers and creditors, doctors, lawyers - and taxpayers - all are caught up in the meth web. Methamphetamine is a more potent version of the amphetamine pills once used by long-haul truckers, women on crash diets and college students cramming for tests. Cheap and easy to make, meth is the drug of choice for a significant part of the population in Kitsap County The inevitable fallout infects everyone in a user's life, then spreads to the rest of the community Kitsap County prosecutors say meth addicts are responsible for most crimes of violence among strangers, most theft, fraud and burglary "Virtually all of the property crimes, virtually all of the stranger violence crimes and virtually all of the burglaries are going to involve drugs," said Tim Drury head of the new drug unit in the Prosecutor's Office. Most of the time, drugs means meth. In the course of a single week last month, prosecutors cfiarged 15 drug cases. Only three did not involve meth. One man had his 1-year-old, his 3-year-old and his meth in th~ car with him when arrested. Regular meth users need money for habits that cost a minimum of $50 a day and often much more. Many steal to get it. There were 12 forgery fraud and theft cases charged that same week in May, and experience shows they probably involved meth. Washington ranked No. 1 among the 50 states in numbers of meth lab busts per capita in 2001. Only California and Missouri recorded a larger number last year. And the problem may be getting worse. Among Washington's 39 counties, Kitsap is close to the top for meth lab busts. The West Sound Narcotics Enforcement Team has busted 50 labs in Kitsap and Mason counties so far this year, compared to 67 for all of 2001. No one knows how many meth addicts there are, and officials can only guess at the size of the problem. About 90 percent of the 1,500 drug cases prosecuted last year in Kitsap County were for meth, prosecutors say Drug charges make up only about 10 percent of all criminal cases, but drugs play a role in about 80 percent of other crimes, say prosecutors, police and judges. A Spreading Web Addicts tend to abuse and neglect their children, drawing schools and the social service system into the circle. Fifty of the 150 Kitsap County children who have been put into foster care since January 2001 are there primarily because of meth use in their homes, state social services workers report. Meth use is the secondary factor for an uncountable number of other foster care placements. When meth and its effects — not eating, not sleeping — make users physically sick or schizophrenic, they end up in the hospital. On average, Harrison Hospital's emergency room deals once each day with a patient seriously disturbed by meth use. One of the two meth overdose victims reported by the Coroner's Office last year was a newborn who didn't survive the toxic effects of his mother's addiction. Treatment providers report meth addiction is beginning to outpace alcoholism among clients. Methamphetamine and amphetamines are named by 43 to 45 percent of Kitsap Recovery Center's public clients as their primary or secondary addiction. Once meth has taken hold, heavily addicted users don't work for a living, at least not productively They deal drugs, or they steal to buy them. Rent, bills, personal hygiene and the social constraints of "keeping up appearances" mean little to addicts. Meth's broad-ranging impact was underscored when Prosecuting Attorney Russ Hauge formed the Drug Interdiction Task Force last year. People from 27 different organizations and constituencies are at the table together to mount the first coordinated local response to what is being called a meth epidemic. One Family's Downhill Slide Until the early 1990s, the Bedilions of South Kitsap appeared to be a normal suburban family But already they had started down a path that would intersect, a decade later, with Claudia Peetz. It would land 19-year-old Brian in prison after deputies found some of Peetz's possessions — along with those of 14 other burglary victims — in storage lockers rented by Brian and his mother Delores. Before meth took over the family's life, Brian's father Denis owned and ran Doc's Auto Upholstery and Glass in Bremerton. The business was the first of its kind in the county established by his father in the 1950s. He was reportedly a hard and responsible worker. His wife Delores helped out. Denis and Delores, their two girls and one boy took pride in their new, split-level house in Sunnyslope. They mowed the lawn, kept up the property and minded their own business. "They were kind of quiet, but it was a nice home ... when they had their little children, it was nice," said Phyllis Justice, who with her husband Jim has lived down the road for 38 years. Delores was an emergency medical technician with the all-volunteer Sunnyslope Fire District 6, where her father had been longtime chief. Denis was a battalion chief. Delores was so well known that many elderly people called her instead of 911, says Jack Ondracek, another district volunteer who at one time was friendly with the Bedilions. Then, Delores started snorting meth with friends. Pretty soon, Denis joined in. Eventually all five Bediions were r using meth, and it was not rare for them to use together. "I used meth with all my kids," Delores Bedilion says. In about 1990, the Bedilions' oldest daughter ran away at age 13 and lived where she could until she married. During 1995, the year Denis took up the habit, the two other kids went into alternative care. Cheryl, the second oldest child, was once a promising basketball player and a good student, but dropped out of school to work and "party" But disgusted with the lifestyle, she left home at 16. She voluntarily entered foster care and intensive out-patient drug treatment. Brian was sent to foster care in 1995, when he was 12, after his parents checked themselves into the hospital. Denis Bedilion was suicidal and Delores unable to parent Brian, according to a juvenile justice assessment. The Tragedy Spreads Meth use by the Bedilion parents and their three kids is more than just one family's tragedy The parents lost a house and a business, leaving behind a trail of creditors. Their trashed house blights the neighborhood. Health and building officials paid by taxpayers work to clean up the wreckage. Meth turned the Bedilions into clients of publicly funded drug treatment programs, and mental health and medical systems. Daughter Cheryl, now 22, spent most of her teen years in a cycle of using and kicking and using. Brian was booted from residential treatment in Spokane for non-cooperation at age 17 after being ordered to treatment by a judge. Both were in foster care for extensive periods of time. The Bedilions' oldest daughter has two children who were placed in foster care. She agreed to briefly discuss her family on the condition that her name and picture not be used, a condition that was accepted because, unlike her - brother and parents, she was never convicted of a crime. The oldest daughter acknowledges that her children were removed from the home partly because of meth use by her and her husband. Grandparents, Denis and Delores Bedilion are forbidden contact with the children because of their drug history Over the years, the state's Child Protective Services logged 23 abuse and neglect complaints against the Bedilions, beginning in 1987. They consistently refused services, the agency reported. Meth Exerts Its Pull The Bedilion family secret became public knowledge in the spring of 1997. Delores came forward about her role in the beating death the previous year of 22-year-old Brian Johnson at a Bremerton apartment. Later, she and another woman testified they were at the apartment smoking meth the night two men savagely beat Johnson to death. Delores helped clean the apartment and hide the body at a Mason County tree farm, where it was found seven months later. Delores Bedilion got a nine-month sentence. She was released early, but her habit was so compelling that she was sent back to jail after twice testing positive for meth. She finally got out in September 1998. After Cheryl turned 18, Jack and Cindy Ondracek adopted her. She took their surname and moved in with the family. Despite their love and support, despite finishing high school and starting college, Cheryl was drawn to her birth parents and the old meth lifestyle. "I could not detach myself," said Cheryl. She began using again. Instead of attending classes at Olympic College, Cheryl began hanging out at her birth parents' business. "I'd sit there and get high all day" she said. By 16, Brian was injecting meth. An occasional meth snorter or smoker may learn to prefer the needle because injecting the drug is quicker acting, longer lasting and more satisfying. By 19, his arms bore the scars or "tracks" of daily needle use, reported Debra Walsh, the parole officer who prepared his pre-sentence report this year~ In January, he was found guilty of possessing stolen property — property that included Claudia Peetz's family treasures. Cleaning Up The Mess Today the Bedilion house looks like a trash dump. Garbage bags and debris from the stripped interior and a dismantled garage fill the driveway next to the house and spill into the overgrown front yard. "How can I sell my house with the city dump next door?" complains Carrie Barnett, whose home is right behind the Bedilion house. The Bedilions' community involvement, business ownership and home once suggested a model lifestyle. Now it's over. "Everything my parents worked for, everything their parents worked for is gone," said Brian. "Because of the use of meth, it all went downhill." The Bedilion's declared bankruptcy in 2000. Denis and Delores say they chose to close their business, not sell it. Similarly they say they chose to let their house go. There was money Delores said, but she didn't pay bills. "I bought dope ... we weren't being responsible with anything." Delores said her habit cost an estimated $400 to $600 a week. Neither parent defends their drug use nor the inclusion of their children in their meth life. "We weren't thinking," Denis says flatly Costs To Everyone Continue The Bedilions' meth use harmed strangers like Claudia Peetz and others: the landlord at their upholstery business, their creditors and neighbors. Countless public dollars still see the Bedilions through their saga. Taxpayers foot the bill for Brian's - imprisonment at McNeil Island Corrections Center for forgery possession of stolen property and third-degree rape involving an adult male relative. Taxpayers pay for Denis' parole supervision after a 1999 conviction for having sex With an underage girl. Denis says he quit meth then, knowing he'd have to quit in jail. Delores says she quit about six months ago. The couple now lives in Pierce County where Denis is a truck driver. They pay for their own court-ordered marriage counseling, and Denis' progress is reported adequate. Kitsap County government and the Bremerton-Kitsap County Health District administer the clean-up procedures at the Bedilion home, at an estimated personnel cost of $70 an hour. The Kitsap County courts gave up trying to collect the money Delores owed in restitution. They were evicted from the business owing $3,900 to their landlord. The Ondraceks estimate it cost them more than $3,000 for Cheryl's second treatment program for drug addiction. Cheryl now is on the Dean's List at OC, referees youth basketball, appears on drug information panels and helps run the Ondracek family's business. She will celebrate her third year of sobriety in August, the same month Brian expects to be released. Life Forever Changed The cost of the Bedilions' methamphetamine use to Claudia Peetz can never be repaid. Upset after the burglary she postponed the sale of her house. The price of the new home she planned to buy jumped $23,000 by the time she was once again ready to move. Police were able to recover her husband's Marine Corps sword, but most of the cherished momentoes from a 33-year marriage are gone for good. "How dare they do this to anyone," she told Brian's sentencing judge. "My life will never be the same." - --------------------------------------- Washington ranks No. 1 among the 50 states for meth lab busts per capita. - -------------------------------------- Methamphetamine (aka) crystal, ice, speed, crank, chalk Quarter -- 1/4 gram of methamphetamine Tweaking -- compulsive activity Jonesing -- compulsive craving Tracks -- scars caused by habitual intravenous needle use Crash -- come down from a high. Meth users can sleep for days UA -- laboratory urinalysis for presence of drugs - ---------------------------------------- Methamphetamine or meth is a synthetic stimulant that releases high levels of dopamine, a pleasure-producing neurotransmitter, into the brain. It comes in powder, pill, capsule or rock form. It can be swallowed, snorted, injected or smoked. Experts say smokers and needle users get an intense but brief rush described as a pleasure like no other. Ingesting or snorting produces a milder euphoria. Regular users quickly become addicted. Their use and dosage increases, but pleasure diminishes over ~me because of damage to neuron cell-endings in the brain. Meth causes extreme wakefulness, frantic physical activity, appetite and weight loss, increased respiration and fever. Users often become highly irritable, anxious, confused. They may tremble and fidget, stay awake for days, suffer paranoia, and become highly aggressive. Hyperthermia and convulsions from meth use can result in death. - ------------------------------------------- Information On Methamphetamine And Other Drugs Can Be Found At: National Institute on Drug Abuse -- www.nida.nih gov/ Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration www.samhsa.gov/about/about.html High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) -- www.mfiles.org/methweb/home/home. html For help -- Confidential hotfine (800) 562-1240 To report drug activity -- WestNET, (800) 585-8477 - --------------------------------------------- Kitsap Coun1y Drug Cases 1997 808 1998 1,175 1999 1,074 2000 1,230 2001 1,326 Consistent data available only forr first 10 months of each year. Source: Kitsap County Prosecuting Attorney's Office. About 90 percent of drug cases involve methamphetamine, prosecutors say. Only about 10 percent of all crimes charged in Kitsap County are for drugs. But prosecutors, police and court officials say that drugs — usually methamphetamine — are involved in about 80 percent of other crimes. - ---------------------------------------------- How Meth Marks Our Community Methamphetamine is primarily a blue-collar drug used by whites. So It shouldn't be surprising that meth has become the drug of choice among many adults in blue-coIlar, mostly white Kitsap County. Drugs - usually meth - play a role in 80 percent of non-drug crimes here. As a result, meth's toll is far larger than the number of users. Meth robs crime victims, who are usually random targets of users frying to support their habit. It contaminates property belonging to unsuspecting landlords of meth cooks. Meth users' neglected children become wards of the state, and the rest of us pay the bills for their care and the impact of meth on their lives. Meth costs businesses, invades schools and stresses health care systems. Even the military is not immune. Today and Monday, The Sun begins an examination of the toll meth demands from the people and institutions in our community. Our series of special reports will continue in the months ahead. Tomorrow Addicts' Stories. - --- MAP posted-by: Larry Stevens