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.