Pubdate: Mon, 18 Sep 2006 Source: Bradenton Herald (FL) Copyright: 2006 Bradenton Herald Contact: http://www.bradenton.com/mld/bradenton/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/58 Author: Jack Wilhelm MULTI-FACETED DRUG BATTLE NEEDED The Sept. 5 story about the drug problem in Manatee County and the need for new treatment facilities underlines the seriousness of the problem here and elsewhere. It is encouraging to see that government and the public are concerned. This problem was underlined poignantly the other week in the story about the family trying to find their missing daughter: "Father: 'We're here to find her body.'" It was just one more example that drug addiction, prostitution and other crimes can not be separated in this or any other community. For the most part, governmental agencies and our local, county, state and national leaders either fail, or refuse, to recognize the unholy interaction between the three. The result is that our county, and our nation, make very little or no progress in solving these blights on American society. The reason for prostitution and most other crime in the United States is drug addiction and the root cause is economic. The downward spiral goes like this. A person becomes addicted to drugs. The first step is to spend all of his or her finances for drugs. Then they lose their jobs because they are no longer reliable employees. Even if they work, they can't earn enough to pay for their habit. The next step is to hock everything they own. Then the pathway splits. Men, and some women, generally begin to resort to burglary, robbery and thievery to get the money for drugs. Most women, and some men, resort to prostitution to obtain drugs or the money for drugs. On the other side of the problem, most drug dealers start dealing because they can make more money that way than any other of which they are capable or which society allows. What's more, in the "hood," dealers are the role models. They are the ones with gold chains, new cars and women. I'll wager that there are more than one thousand dealers in any urban area in this country. This number includes large, medium, small, and "wannabe" dealers. It also includes the large numbers who buy drugs, take some for their own use, and then try to sell the rest for enough money to resupply themselves. The complicating factor to all this is that none quit - using or dealing - until he or she wants to. Not treatment, not jail, not even life-threatening medical problems can, by themselves, force anyone to quit. The justice system itself often contributes to the problem. Fines, court costs, attorneys or public defenders fees, drug court or other treatment fees are staggering. Many offenders have no marketable skills. They must resort back to what they know best - prostitution, other criminal activity, or dealing drugs. I have painted a bleak picture, and it is. However, it is not insurmountable. The solution requires the cooperation of a multi- disciplinary, multi-governmental, and multi-voluntary-agency task force. (Ironically, that may be an insurmountable problem.) On one hand, psychologists and social workers could determine and deal with the underlying causes of the addiction and determine what "fear" is strong enough to make each addict stop using. Causes and fears will vary from one offender to another. For example for one it may be abuse as a child. For another, it may be fear of jail or of losing a child. Psychological counseling should be available to all. In addition, job skill training should be mandatory and placement services should be available to the recovering offender just as they are in any community college. Finally, law enforcement agencies should continue hunting down dealers and offenders and handing them over to the court system for referral to the services that would best ensure recovery from addiction and offer opportunities for gainful, productive, socially acceptable life styles. I'm not optimistic that such a multi-faceted approach will ever happen. But, I've been wrong several times before. Hey, it's expensive, but a systems approach is a lot less expensive than the piece meal approach we have now-and a lot less expensive for the taxpayers, too. Jack Wilhelm is a resident of Holmes Beach. - --- MAP posted-by: Elaine