MONTANA METHAMPHETAMINE MORE THAN POLICE ISSUE SAYS 'DRUG CZAR'

Montana's problem will have to be solved by Montanans - and not just by law
enforcement, Gen. Barry McCaffrey, the nation's top drug-control official
told a group of more than 70 community leaders gathered Friday morning at
St. Vincent Hospital.

"Community-based leadership is really the solution," McCaffrey told an
auditorium full of city and county officials, state legislators, business
people and health care professionals.

On the second and last day of his Billings visit, McCaffrey didn't promise
new programs or new money, but he urged the breakfast crowd to persevere.

He said the mayor and county chief executive should be leaders in a
community effort against drugs that includes medical and education leaders
as well as leaders of high-technology companies - employers who need a
competent work force now and for the future. He said prevention education
and addiction treatment have to be part of the community solution.
McCaffrey talked about the benefits in safety and morale of drug-free
workplaces established by drug testing. He urged people to get involved
with their schools.

"Law enforcement alone can't fight the drug problem," the retired four-star
general said. "An integrated approach is needed."

McCaffrey cited New York City and Miami as communities that have reduced
their drug problems, although the problems remain large.

Billings community members already are working on solutions in the areas
that McCaffrey recommended. The Billings Healthier Community Coalition,
comprised of local nonprofit organizations, procured a drug prevention
grant that is just this month beginning to fund expansion of community
youth programs and prevention education.

Just this week, the Mental Health Center and the Yellowstone County Public
Defender's Office began a program of chemical dependency assessments for
jailed criminal defendants. The program is limited to four assessments a
month because of limited funds, Public Defender Sandy Selvey said Friday.

Selvey wants money for his office to get treatment for chemically dependent
clients. He estimates that 90 percent of his clients need treatment and
that methamphetamine addiction is a problem for a significant number of them.

"We see them time and time again because they're not getting any
treatment," Selvey said.

The public defender also is an advocate of drug courts, a special court
that emphasizes effective treatment for addicted offenders. Such courts
have been established in communities around the country, including Bozeman.

District Judge Russell Fagg confirmed Friday that he and other judges in
Yellowstone County have been discussing the idea of starting a drug court
here. No drug dealers or violent offenders could go through drug court. But
people whose major problem was addiction could be ordered into treatment by
a drug court and held accountable by the threat of being jailed if they
failed to comply with the treatment plan.

However, a major challenge for establishing a drug court in Billings is to
first establish adequate access to drug treatment, Fagg said.

Fagg said the District Court deals with drug cases as well as drug-related
cases of burglary and other property crimes.

"We need to do something more direct to treat the problem of drug addiction
rather than treating the symptoms of crime," the judge said.

Fagg said Yellowstone County judges also are looking at the idea of a
family court that would be able to deal with various cases involving a
family. Some families are in the court system with members in criminal
cases as well as child neglect cases and juvenile cases. A family court
could "deal with the family as a whole, rather than in separate parts,"
Fagg said. A family court and a drug court would have a lot of overlap in
the people served.

"We have about 15 percent of the (state) population, but we have about a
third of the neglect and abuse cases and a lot of those cases go back to
drugs," the judge said.