Series: Meth - A Rising Blight (Part 2B)

Beleaguered Embattled Justice System

ALLIES IN WAR AGAINST METH HARD-PRESSED, FRUSTRATED

MURRAY, Ky. - The shotgun resting in the rack next to Gale Cook's desk is
loaded.

And each night when Cook, the commonwealth's attorney for Marshall and
Calloway counties, leaves the office, she takes a pistol from her purse and
carries it until she's in her car.

It is just another cost of prosecuting meth dealers, said Cook, 50.

"The death threats I had received had become more specific, and I just
didn't want to take any more chances," she said.

Cook and her lone full-time assistant prosecutor, her husband, are among a
cast of police, judges, social workers and others in Calloway County who
said methamphetamine often leaves them overmatched, outwitted and under-funded.

The rise in the number of meth cases in Calloway mirrors what some
prosecutors throughout the state are seeing.

The county had 10 meth-related indictments for manufacturing and dealing in
1998-99, compared to 39 in 2003-04.

Prosecutors say their dockets are overbooked, sheriff's deputies say they
cannot find time to adequately patrol the county, and judges say they have
begun removing school-aged meth users from homes where the drug is
manufactured.

"Meth is such a devastation to our families and our communities," Cook
said. "I've had a 5-month-old baby in my office with dirty fingernails. His
father is in jail now for manufacturing meth, and his mother is on
probation for possession.

"What happens in 18 years when William comes to ask me what went wrong in
his life? What do I tell him?"

Court Steps In

Judge, Program Help Children Of Addicts

Meth's inroads in this county can be seen in the lives of children.

Of the 18 children in the Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Calloway County, five
have parents or others in their families who have used meth, said Mitch
Coy, program director.

"They have to deal with one of their parents suddenly being gone," said
Coy, program director. "But that's just the start of it."

Increasingly, these children end up before Calloway District Judge Jeanne
Carroll, who has run a locally funded juvenile drug court for the past two
years.

In this program, children get personal attention from the judge and other
court workers, frequent drug tests and counseling.

Carroll said four children have graduated from the nine-month drug
probation program, and five are enrolled. Carroll said one participant, a
12-year-old, had been arrested as part of a theft ring that stole from
homes to get money for meth. "It's available in the school system, and on
the street," Carroll said.

"It has gotten a lot worse in the last year."

She also said dozens of children have been relocated after one or both
parents were arrested either for using meth at home or making the drug in
dangerous home labs.

"A meth addict cares about one thing basically - getting the next fix,"
Carroll said.

"So you arrest the parents, but it's the kids who've not been cared for.
They have been sleeping in the same house where the meth is cooked,
breathing those fumes. No one's been making sure they have food to eat,
clean clothes to wear or getting them to school on time."

Calloway Sheriff's Detective Sgt. Jim Wright said he is "amazed" at how
many children have parents who use or make meth.

"It's like this: When the husband gets on it, the wife gets on it," Wright
said. "Sometimes the kids end up taking it, too."

Wright, a former New Orleans police detective, said he returned to his
native Western Kentucky in 2001 to retire. But before long, he said, he
realized the region was nearly awash in drugs, helping him decide to come
out of retirement.

"I didn't even know what meth was when I got here. But I was amazed to
learn at how prolific it is here. It's like everyone around here is on it,"
Wright said.

Rigors Of Enforcement

County's Resources Stretched Thin, Focused On Other Tasks

Wright said meth is tied to almost all crime in the county.

"It's burglaries, theft - we'll have a homicide every so often - you name
it," he said.

"But I'd say 96percent, at least, of all my crimes are related to
narcotics. They have a need to feed their habit."

Wright said battling meth is hard because it often is concentrated in rural
areas where resources are weakest.

On second and third shifts, just two patrol officers are available to
respond to crimes throughout the county, he said. During the day, there are
no patrols at all because the two deputies transfer prisoners between the
courthouse and the jail, he said.

Even with federal funds supporting the tri-county drug task force, Wright
said, law enforcement is badly outmaneuvered by dealers.

"It can be very organized," he said. "And we've got two (drug) detectives
assigned to the whole county, 384 square miles. It's not enough."

In the meantime, Gale Cook said, battling meth means a growing list of
felony cases each month.

"What do you do? You work 16 hours a day. You work Saturdays. You work
Sunday," Cook said. "You just have to do it. I am not ever going to tell a
law-enforcement officer or a criminal that I can't or won't do my job. But
we need help here."

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Restricting Medication Sales

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Oregon

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Illinois

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Alabama