Spilyqy Tymoo, Warm Springs, Oregon
October 31. 2001
mum
(Continued from page 1)
When asked if he has ever
stolen a car, he says, "Yes, I've
stolen a car."
When asked what his big
gest crime was in order to get
drugs, he shares ashamedly, "I
broke into a music equipment
warehouse once."
Tewee said that
crime was enticing be
cause of the prospect
of mass quantities of
drugs.
"While doing it, I
was excited because of
the fact I would get
more drugs than I ever
had in my life, and I
did."
His reasoning is
common among the
typical addicts. Crimes
related to the need to
get more meth happen
every day.
"I would say the
majority of the people
we're holding in our jail
are in there for meth
amphetamines or
crimes associated with
meth," said James
Cole, criminal investi- .
gator with the Warm Springs
Police Department.
Meth, according to Cole, is
the number one priority for the
Warm Springs police force.
The reason being, he says, is the
amount of theft, burglary, vio
lence, child abuse, and child ne
glect all to often associated with
methamphetamine abusers.
"We can't deny the connec
tion between these crimes and
meth," said Cole
A glimpse into the recent
Warm Springs past brings up
the shocking and senseless mur-
1 .-it i i t
der ot tribal member Micnaei
Saludo. The murder happened
in July 2001.
Saludo's three assailants
pulled away his crutches, pre
venting his escape, and then
proceeded to stab him mul
tiple times. They sliced his
throat, attempted to break his
neck and stone him to death,
according to the police investi
gation. ; Finally, after multiple unsuc
cessful attempts to murder him
for more drug money, they
smothered Saludo.
All malefactors were under
the influence of methamphet
amines. It's horrific crimes like these,
said Cole, that typify metham
phetamine use.
Users, said Cole, tend to not
sleep. The lack of sleep has a
lot to do with the psychotic epi
sodes that typify "tweakers".
"Depending on the stage of
use," explained Cole, "there is
more paranoia. People at that
stage snap on a moment's no
tice." Tewee explains he needs 50
bucks just to get started.
"You know for the week
end. But a weekend can last a
month," he smiles.
With that attitude the money
needs to keep flowing, and any
thing goes.
This indulgent practice of
continual use for days is known
among addicts as "binging."
It was after an 1 1 day binge
that a tribal member burned
down his sister's house on
Christmas Day of 2001. Ac
cording to Cole, the perpetra
tor, suffering delusions, thought
the Marines were after him,
and he was trying to get away.
Neighbors said they saw
him running around his sister's
lawn as her house burned,
ducking and doing rolls as if
he were engaged in military
combat.
Child abuse and neglect are
rampant among users, and ac
count for a good number of
the criminal cases on the reser
vation, said Cole. Child por
nography, he said, is often
found in the meth abuser's
home. Many people would
agree.
Items found in the trunk of a vehicle on the reservation. It was determined that these items were
to make methamphetamine out of the trunk of the vehicle. This type of lab is commonly referred
One example of child abuse
can be seen in Tewee's state
ment, that his mother turned
him on at age 11.
Due to her own habits, she
could also fall into the category
of child neglect. The three to
four babies born in Warm
Spring each year with traces of
methamphetamine in their
bloodstreams, indicating their
mother's drug use while preg
nant, is also considered' child
abuse.
Child neglect is often a part
of the addict's life, said Cole.
"Someone will call me and
say 'hey, this child is not being
taken care of.' We'll go check it
out."
Cole says the discovery of
a meth addict's home is usually
shocking. The children often
have dirty clothes and are prac
ticing self-care. A meal is a bag
of chips if they are lucky, says
Cole. The filth in the home is
hideous.
"I've seen absolutely dis
gusting homes. It's hard to even
put it into words. Homes less
than five years old are com
pletely destroyed. We're talking
about rugs covered with ani
mal excrement, food rotting on
the floor of the kitchen, a rot
ting maggot-infested steak in
the corner. Literally, carved
pathways leading to the rooms
through garbage, and I mean,
raw garbage," described Cole.
In cases like these, metham
phetamine abuse is likely. While
investigating the house on other
charges, Warm Springs police
keeps their eyes open for small
pieces of tinfoil, hollowed out
pens, resin-filled pipes, short
ened straws, or blackened
lightbulbs. All are parapherna
lia commonly used for smok
ing or snorting meth.
Cole doesn't think using
meth intravenously on the res
ervation is common and has
never seen it. Suicide, another
social ill prevalent among tribal
members, "plays its part," says
Cole. "I would say meth is in
volved in at least one-third of
the suicides, and is as high as
one-half," he adds.
Police officers often risk
their well-being addressing the
unpredictable behaviors of a
meth user andor addict. Cole
notes a former co-worker is
still out of work. During a vio
lent arrest resistance that
ocurred after an undercover
police officer bought from a
Warm Springs dealer, he was
injured. Since then, he's had two
back surgeries, shared Cole.
On the reservation, police
officers enter a crime scene, as
sessing the scene for evidence
of drug use, so they know
"I've seen absolutely disgusting homes. Its
hard to even put it into words. Homes less
than five years old are completely destroyed.
We 're talkine about rugs covered with animal
excrement, food rotting On the floor Of the
kitchen, a rotting maggot-infested steak in the
corner. Literally, carved pathways leading to
the rooms through garbage, and I mean, raw
. garbage."
James Cole
Criminal Investigator, Warm Springs
what they are getting into. Signs
they have learned to recognize
are a person not able to be
quiet; very animated move
ments and pupils dilated; exag
gerated mannerisms; and,
worse case scenario for the ad
vanced addict, severe acne, also
known as "meth sores."
Meth sores are caused by the
chemicals trying to escape the
user's body. The user perceives
"bugs" crawling under the skin,
and the user picks at these.
Acne-like sores develop, some
times turning into large open
wounds.
"Also, if you know the per
son," says Cole about the small
community he works in, and
targeting meth users at crime
scenes, "they are not acting like
their normal self."
Regardless of risks for po
lice officers, because of the
high-risk crimes associated with
meth use, given a choice be
tween a marijuana or a meth
offense, Warm Springs police
force always chooses to address
the latter first.
A plight of rural towns
Methamphetamine produc
tion and use, known as meth,
crank, rock, CR, ice, or
crosstops, is spreading its dis
mal wings across rural America.
Small town residents typi
cally thought to be safe from
crimes of the big city, are ex
periencing the same paranoia as
city dwellers.
Doors and cars are locked
to prevent auto theft. Bikes arc
no longer safe in the front yard.
At nighttime houses are locked
to deter the intruder and avoid
the violent murder that hap
pened in the neighboring small
town. Grandmas are hiding
their purses from their grand
children. Warm Springs is not alone
in its predicament.
Guy Wallulatum, drug and
alcohol counselor in Warm
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K
Springs, says since the 1980s
methamphetamine use on the
reservation has gotten pro
gressively worse.
In Central Oregon, only a
quick 15-minute drive up the
canyon from Warm Springs
lies Madras, a quaint town with
a seedy underside involving
methamphetamine production
and distribution.
Ervey Dominguez, senior
deputy for the Jefferson
County Sheriff's Department,
says Madras is the largest dis
tribution point in Central Or
egon. Much of the meth
comes out of Washington,
California, and the Willamette
Valley. Basically, he says, the
money goes south and the
dope comes north.
Otherwise, meth labs, in
trailers, businesses, houses, and
cars produce the white to
brown powder in rigged
chemistry labs.
Afterwards it is distributed
to the area's dealers, who then
sell it to the users and the ad
dicts. Cole estimates, about 1 5 of
those dealers are on the reser
vation. "We're aware of about 15,
but there are probably at least
double that. That's a conserva
tive number," said Cole.
But, says Cole, 1 haven't run
into any Native American sup
pliers yet.
"Most of the lab busts
around here are in Madras."
Commonly referred to as
the "nazi method", the pre
ferred clandestine home
method produces a high po
tency methamphetamine.
Producers use lithium strips
from batteries to cause a chemi
cal reaction, an extremely dan
gerous procedure. Only one
drop of water in this mixture,
says Dominguez, could lead to
a lethal explosion.
A batch can be whipped-up
in an hour.
Greg Stlnson
being used by the person involved
to as a "rolling lab."
Other meth is shipped into
the United States from Mexico
and various countries in Asia.
Methamphetamine produc-
tion is often dependent on the
availability of two precursor
chemicals, ephedrine and pseu-
doephedrine.
It is buffered with toxic and
harmful substances like Drano
and lye.
'' "There are so many things in
meth that are disgusting. It's hard
to understand why anyone
would want to knowingly put
that into their body," said Cole.
In the past meth was made
with acetone and phosphorus,
which caused it to smell.
"Meth doesn't smell anymore
because they no longer use these
stinky chemicals," said Cole.
"Methods today are quicker,
using fewer chemicals to make
more meth in less time," Cole
said.
On the reservation, meth labs
are not a problem yet, and only
two clandestine labs have been
busted in Cole's time on the res
ervation. "We found one in a car up at
Kah-Nee-Ta, in which the per
son was not a tribal member.
He was making meth in his
car and ripping off other cars
in the parking lot," said Cole.
The other, he said, was a
small-time operation out of
someone's house.
The toxic process leaves
buildings and cars uninhabitable
without a cleanup, in which the
average cost is $5,000 to
$150,000.
Addiction, it's a family affair
Drugs', says Wallulatum, throw
everything (in your body) out of
whack.
Furthermore, all drug abuse
leads to family and community
dysfunction,exclaims Wallulatum.
"It's a family disease, along
with child abuse and anger man
agement," he says.
"We need chiefs and leaders
of the community to speak out
about it," says Wallulatum about
substance abuse on the reserva
tion. "They (the younger genera
tions) learn drug abuse from el
ders, and from seeing other
people do it."
A former substance abuser,
Wallulatum confidently explains
the psyche of a drug addict.
"Most drug addicts will even-
tually get into some kind of le
gal trouble that will lead them
to treatment. Very few will just
walk-in and say they need help."
Wallulatum acknowledges
drug and alcohol abuse on the
reservation as a prevalent prob
lem. He feels alcohol, which he
calls a legal killer, is a gate
way drug. It can lead to more
hardcore drugs like meth.
Tewee estimates he
started drinking when he
was 8 or 9 years old. His
father was an alcoholic.
Many professionals agree
that problems with alcohol
often accompany the meth
abuser's addictions.
At this time Wallulatum
doesn't know of any reha
bilitation centers that are spe
cifically for meth.
Tribal members who de
velop meth problems usually
find help outside of Warm
Springs.
Says Wallulatum of reha
bilitation programs, "Each
person needs an individual
treatment plan, for different
levels of drug problems.
Some are more severe than
others."
He feels that if a person
has faith, sweatlodges and other
traditional forms of treatment
can be very affective. "I see this
type of approach more in the
older people," he says.
Long, hard trip
Snorting or smoking lye
and drano for 25 years can't
be good for you.
Tewee says he doesn't feel
any health affects from his
years of drug use.
Yet, he has needle tracks
where he shoots meth intra
venously sometimes.
He coughs constantly
throughout the interview.
A deep scar wraps around
his upper arm where some
one slashed him with a bro
ken botde during a fist fight.
Another slash on his forearm
is from a knife.
Meth addicts develop eye
problems, have deep dark
circles around their eyes, indi
cating kidney problems, and
often lose their teeth.
The life of a drug addict
shows its scars on the external
physique. And internally
methampehtamine users face
detrimental damage.
Intravenous users are at
high-risk for deadly diseases
like Hepatitis C and the AIDS
virus.
His own ghost
Long-term use of meth can
cause damage to the dopam
ine producing brain cells.
Dopamine is responsible for
making humans feel good.
Without dopamine produc
tion, feeling happy is not a
possibility.
While high, users can suffer
from delusions, paranoia, and
symptoms that resemble
schizophrenia.
Long-term use can result in
bi-polar (manic-depression)
and schizophrenia.
Tewee at first denied the
drug has affected his mind in
a negative way.
Later, he changed his mind
and said, "I guess you arc right.
It docs mess with your mind.
You see things that aren't
there."
He described a recurring
shadow figure kneeling in the
distance that he frequently sees
while coming down from a
high or when he is too high.
"It's really probably just my
own ghost," he hypothesized.