Pubdate: Tue, 01 Jul 2003
Source: Gadsden Times, The (AL)
Copyright: 2003 The Gadsden Times
Contact:  http://www.gadsdentimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1203
Author: Cindy West, and Lisa Rogers

NATION'S DRUG CZAR VISITS ETOWAH, MARSHALL COUNTIES

The nation's drug czar toured The Bridge Inc. in Etowah County and Marshall 
County's drug court Monday.

White House Office of National Drug Control Policy Director John Walters 
and U.S. Rep. Robert Aderholt, R-Haleyville, got a firsthand look at the 
programs.

Walters, whose job takes him to many countries, said most areas feel 
fragmented when it comes to the war on drugs.

"They would be envious of what you have here," he said, referring to the 
close working relationship of law enforcement, counselors and others 
involved in the fight against drugs while addressing a group at The Bridge 
Inc., a drug treatment center. "You have what we can't create in Washington."

The two also talked with those enrolled in the programs in both counties.

"They told us what I hear in other places," Walters said. "Almost all start 
with marijuana," before moving on to other drugs.

Walters called Marshall County's drug court program "state of the art."

"The movement together of enforcement, prevention and treatment ... you 
have a fine group of individuals," Walters said.

Walters was invited to the area by Aderholt. The two met with drug court 
officials and judges before holding a press conference on the steps of the 
Marshall County Courthouse in Guntersville.

Walters said he wanted to get a sense of how drug problems affect different 
sections of the country and to learn how resources provided by the federal 
government can best be used at the local level.

"I met with one of the clients from the drug court," Walters said. "He told 
me what I've heard in other places. The day that he was arrested was one of 
the luckier days of his life. In fact, he may be alive because he was 
arrested and brought to a drug court ... and that made it possible for him 
to move on with a productive life in his community."

Those who graduate from the six-year-old drug court program in Marshall 
County have a 7 percent recidivism rate - only 7 percent of them commit 
drug-related crimes after graduation, Marshall County Presiding Circuit 
Judge Tim Jolly said. Jolley, who works with the program, said 68 percent 
of those who enter it graduate, and the other 32 percent go to a 
work-release program or prison.

About 10 people a month are added to the drug court case load, which 
currently includes 176 participants.

"Drug courts are an example of how we need to think about this issue but 
frequently don't," Walters said. "It's not either enforcement or demand 
reduction, prevention or treatment. What we have is a sophisticated 
understanding applied here, where we work against supply and demand 
together if we're going to make this problem smaller."

Jolley said he and other officials asked for federal money for juvenile 
detention in connection with drug court. "We need money for additional 
treatment programs," he said. "We have such a long waiting list to get into 
treatment.

"In drug court, they either have a job or do community service," Jolley 
said. "One of the things we've seen is once a person becomes drug free, you 
can get them to work, and by doing that, they pay for part of their 
treatment. By paying for part of their treatment, they actually have a 
stake in their recovery. It seems to work."

Many of those in the drug court program are there because of crystal 
methamphetamine. The crystal meth problem in Marshall County and other 
rural areas is a two-part problem, Walters said: meth coming to the area 
from super labs in Mexico through the Southeast United States and meth 
being produced in smaller labs, which don't produce much of the drug but 
are volatile and hazardous to the environment.

"The labs in the trailers are the ones that produce drug-exposed children 
and a dangerous environment for explosions," Walters said. "They are less 
volume in trafficking but a serious community threat. We are trying to 
address this both with training and clean-up money and with law enforcement 
that reaches throughout the country and the region attacking the drug trades."

Those who cook methamphetamine in small labs often buy products at retail 
stores to do so, such as cold medicines that contain ephedrine. Walters 
said research is going on to find ways to change the methods of bonding 
some chemicals in medicines so they can't be broken down to make illegal drugs.

Pharmaceutical companies are helping to educate retailers about products 
used to make illegal drugs. Marshall County's program is called Merchants 
Against Meth.

"In addition there is an effort to redesign the racks that distribute 
pseudoephedrine so you cannot remove multiple packs," Walters said. "What 
we need ultimately is community education."

Walters said additional money for drug courts has been requested from 
Congress. In his State of the Union address, President George W. Bush asked 
for $600 million more for drug treatment over the next three years. Those 
funds would allow the distribution of treatment vouchers, which would allow 
local institutions to provide drug abuse treatment where there currently is 
none available.

"We'd like the vouchers to be a way of improving quality," Walters said. 
"We'd like to reimburse (treatment providers) based on an evaluation of the 
client after he receives treatment.

"We know how to treat people. It's not a perfect science. We need to bring 
that knowledge to more people and more places. That's why the president is 
asking for the additional money," Walters said.
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MAP posted-by: Keith Brilhart