Spilyay Tyrooo, Wqim Springs, Oregon
March 17, 2005
Meth: seminar
speakers, public
discuss problem
(Continued from page 1)
Even more dangerous, Ike
said, is that drug tests of tribal
members have shown that
among those who test positive
for meth use, traces of PCP or
"angel dust," cocaine and hero
ine have also been found.
"We're rinding now that meth
amphetamine is being laced with
new products," she said.
Ike, in offering suggestions
and solutions to the crisis in the
local community. She said it is
up to citizens to "involve our
local leadership and keep them
informed," because the leaders
hold the purse strings to funds
that would help keep drugs off
the streets.
She said citizens need to
"maintain close ties" to child
protective agencies, because
"your report will save a child's
life," and that protective agen
cies need to be able to work with
mental health agencies.
"And mental health agencies
need to understand that while
they need to be available for
their clients, they need to keep
those working with our clients
- shared clients, such as with
probation, Child Protective Ser
vices and the courts - informed
on their compliance," she said.
Ike said mental health coun
selors who are "burned out"
should consider "clearing the
way" for new counselors who
are able to counsel clients, par
ticularly methamphetamine us
ers who need consistent therapy
for the first three to six months
after their arrest.
"How I know this," she said,
"is my son, my second oldest
son, was addicted to metham
phetamine. And during the first
three months, we took him to
mevemegeicy iroom apprctxiv"
mately five times becaitf he be-i.
lieved he was dying. I thought
he was getting better after the
fourth month.
"He shared with me later that
he didn't feel normal for a year,
so it's really important that Men
tal Health understand how criti
cal it is to get treatment for these
people."
Ike encouraged judges and
prosecutors to establish close
ties with agencies such as Child
Protective Services, treatment
centers, and those in the law
enforcement system that deal
directly with methamphetamine
users, to use citizens groups, and
to have "patience, compassion
and hope."
During the question-and-an-swer
session that followed Ike's
talk, and those of several oth
ers from law enforcement offi
cials and treatment providers,
Charlotte Pitt, who identified
herself as a drug and alcohol
counselor in Warm Springs, said
counselors "do send these
people to treatment."
"It usually takes two to three
weeks to get them in," she said.
"I kind of feel hopeless and
helpless at times."
She said that people in her
field "don't get credit for what
we do."
"I do make sure that these
reports reach the court and the
probation officers and CPS," she
said. "I'm probably more re
sponsible because I know what
it does to families."
She said tribal leaders and
managers must become more
informed on meth's effect on
the reservation community.
In her response, Ike said she
agreed with Pitt that tribal lead
ers need to "educate them
selves". "They are aware of it, but
being aware of it doesn't help
when they don't situate the
money and the dollars that are
needed for our law enforcement
agencies or any other program
that's needed."
She said her adult probation
officer supervises about 120
adults on probation.
"She has a very active case
load," she said. "If she were able
to break down that caseload, by
maybe adding one or two more
supervisors, we'd have more
adequate coverage in dealing
with our methamphetamine or
any drug user.
"All we can do is let our
bosses know what we arc doing
and what we're trying to accom
plish and hopefully that'll reach
our tribal leadership. We are a
sovereign nation and tribal lead
ers need to be proud of that."
Dorothea Barney, a Warm
Springs tribal member, gave her
take on what officers Dan
Allison and Jim Porter, from
Central Oregon Drug Enforce
ment, or CODE, arc focusing
on. Barney said CODE is more
concerned with stopping the labs
that create methamphetamine
than with stopping those that sell
the drug.
"One time I was looking for
a relative who was on meth, and
all I did was come over here to
Madras," she said. "And I
parked. I wouldn't know who
does drugs, but I followed him,
and I went to four different drug
houses. That's how easy it was
for me to find all those places.
"And so I find it really hard
when you guys say, 'Oh it takes
a year or so and 100-some visi
tors.' Everybody knows who
they are."
Retired Oregon State Police
officer Jim Dent, who served
as moderator of the seminar,
responded that with funding for
law enforcement shortened on
nearly every level, there can't be
enough officers available to
handle every complaint imme
diately, and that it does take time
to investigate a criminal case
"because we have to work within
the law."
"What do you do when you
, hax$ one person thatV dedicated .
(iri funding) out of Jefferson
County to work drug investiga-
tions," he said. "He has to have
days off. He has to sleep. We
just don't have enough people."
Allison, the Jefferson County
sheriff deputy charged with in
vestigating drug crimes, said that
in fact his department is con
cerned with labs, the dealers and
the users alike.
"Jefferson County itself has
seen a reduction in labs," he said.
"We don't have the manpower
to detect labs like we used to.
Labs are easier to make. They're
faster to produce (methamphet
amine). Some of the laws that
have been enacted have helped
slow labs down a little bit in our
area.
"However, there's only one
of me right now, and I am over
whelmed with the amount of
stuff to do in Jefferson County."
He said he has just come off
leave for his wife's pregnancy,
and had 15 new "drug-dealing
targets" waiting for him and
"stacks of paper" on people
suspected of selling the drug in
the county.
Allison urged people like
Barney to help law enforcement
by reporting when they see ille
gal activity related to metham
phetamine sales and use.
In his presentation, Allison
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said methamphetamine accounts
for 90 percent of illegal drugs
manufactured in the tri-county
(Deschutes, Crook and
Jefferson) area. Methamphet
amine, he said, is responsible for
80 percent of property crimes
and 50 percent of crimes
against persons (including as
sault, rape and murder).
The number of meth labs in
the area has decreased, he said,
largely because of Oregon's new
laws that make it more difficult
for individuals to buy from re
tail outlets the necessary
amounts of ingredients that
make up the components of
making methamphetamine.
He said that in 2004, 177
people were arrested related to
methamphetamine possession,
including 15 involving endanger
ing children, and that five meth
Libs had been discovered and dis
mantled. Steve Lcrichc, Chief Deputy
District Attorney for Jefferson
County, said methamphetamine
use is directly involved in 32
percent of all felony cases in the
county.
"That's a little bit astound
ing," he said.
He encouraged those as
sembled to not let meth dealers
"feel welcome in our communities."
"If you have word of mouth
information about someone,
call," he said. "You'd be sur
prised how many observations
(of illegal activity) can lead to a
warrant.
"A lot of times people in law-,
enforcement don't know as
much as people on the street."
He cited the things to notice
as unusual traffic at a neighbor
ing home at all hours of the day
or night, with visits of no more
than five to 10 minutes in length,
but he warned not to directly
confront a dealer because they
may behave unpredictably and
may be armed.
Porter, a Bend police officer
and the supervisor of CODE,
said the biggest change he's seen
is that his city has had three
homicides in a year.
"We're used to one a year,"
he said.
He said efforts like CODE
face difficulty in the future, be
tween an increase in meth use
and victims of meth-related
crime, and cuts in nationwide
drug enforcement from $230
million a year to $100 million
recommended by Pres. Bush.
"We can't do it alone," Por
ter said. "We need to support it
all the way around, aftercare,
and after jail."
Lois Estimo, a Warm Springs
resident, asked the morning
panel if law enforcement could
have mercy on first-time offend
ers who are only meth users or
allow for mediation, "if a
person's willing to get help."
Estimo said she would also
favor a "recovery home" to
help users who have quit stay
off meth.
Allison said that as a law en
forcement officer, he is bound
to take action when a crime is
committed.
"However, once I take ac
tion, the case is in the system,"
he said. "The system is kind of
like a wheel that's working, but
Thursday
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BBQ Pork Ribs
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sometimes it's not. We like to see
folks get into the system so that
they can get help."
Ixriche said there was at one
time a program that provided a
dialogue between a treatment
provider, the user, the court and
the district attorney's office,
"where they could get together
and work on the person's indi
vidual problem" until funding
for it ran out.
"I think we'd like to see that
program come back so that it
provides a team response to an
individual's problem, to try to get
them to be healed on a first
time basis," he said. "But, sad
to say, the funding's not there."
White, a Madras resident,
said he was inspired to do his
movie, "Downfall," on
methamphetamine's reach that
touched him, as it affected his
brother-in law.
He first approached Cpt.
Greg Partin of the Jefferson
County Sheriff Department for
help.
"We had provided some
training videos for the Sheriff's
Department, so we knew that
they would help us," White said.
"He goes, Well, you should do
a story about meth."'
After an Internet search re
vealed how pervasive metham
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phetamine is, White said he de
cided to wriie a screenplay for
it.
As a low-budget independent
project, White said the story
would have to be able to sell the
movie, as he and his acquain
tances would have to be the ac
tors. The cast also included lo
cal law enforcement, as well.
The 90-minutc film is about
a man who was once a meth
amphetamine user who found
his way back into it, both using
and selling, through circum
stances. Jefferson County Sheriff's
deputies also allowed While ride
with them as part of his re
search. "I was amazed at how much
happens after dark in Madras,"
he said.
To market "Downfall,"
White said he plans to find a way
to distribute it to people who
might benefit from it, "whether
it's law enforcement of schools."
"I'd particularly like young
people to see it because as far
as the war on meth, that would
be a good target audience to try
to help," he said. "The movie
became a lot bigger project than
we thought it was going to be
come." He said he plans to send
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screeners to studios like lion's
(iate, I'ine line Features, which
he called "medium-style- studio
that like to pick up these kind
of productions."
"They especially like to pick
them up, too, because of the
story behind the movie," he said.
"They say, 'I lere's a family that
decided to make an attack on
the meth problem by awareness
and education, and the commu
nity kind of joined with them.'
That's always a good story."
I le said he planned to hold a
screening at the Tower Theater
in Bend, approached Oregon
l'ilm and Video for help in find
ing other potential outlets, and
even contacted the Oregon leg
islature to say, "Listen, we're
from a small town in Oregon
where meth is huge. We at
tempted to deal with it by mak
ing a movie. The community
helped us. We'd like you to see
it.
"Obviously, we're going to
need some help getting it out
there. I think it's entertaining, but
it's also very educational as far
as what meth's about, what it's
made of, what it does to people,
how it destroys families, how it
affects the community and law
enforcement."
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