DRUG TASK FORCE NEEDS COOPERATION IN BATTLING METH'S STRANGLEHOLD

MONTROSE - From the home labs of past years, to the Mexican imports
currently being seen, methamphetamine has taken hold of the Western
Slope and Montrose law enforcement officials said there's no simple
way to stem the tide of social ills it unleashes.

"The meth problem is very significant," Delta/Montrose Task Force
Agent Jack Haynes said. "It's becoming the dominant drug of choice."

The task force reported incidences involving three primary drugs, with
marijuana and cocaine cited as well as meth in the majority of its
cases. "Meth in our opinion is the worst and is the one we see - we
actually see it more than marijuana and we know marijuana is widely
used," Haynes said.

Last October alone, meth accounted for the bulk of the agency's work:
54 percent of its active cases, 61 percent of its intelligence and 54
percent of requests made from other agencies for assistance.

"We consider (meth) a pretty big problem because weekly, we're in
contact with, or dealing with people who admit to the deputies that
they have a substance-abuse problem," Montrose County Undersheriff
Dick Deines said. "That's nothing new, but in the last two or three
years, we've definitely seen an increase in meth use and people that
are hooked on it."

As have other officials, Deines pointed to widespread social problems
due in part to meth use, problems that indicate it's not just the
addict's worry.

"They want it that bad, that they will break into houses. They will
steal and not only from unknown individuals," he said.

"Initially, they start stealing from their own family members" and
have been known to go on to commit other crimes to fund meth or other
drug habits.

Off the Radar

Meth is by no means the only drug causing problems in Montrose -
marijuana is prevalent and cocaine is making a comeback, the task
force and other agencies said. But it is seen as the most
devastating.

"I think it's more addictive than any other drug I've ever dealt with
or been around," Deines said.

That's because meth has become more available, Haynes added,
explaining that in past decades, people had to be associated with
certain gangs to obtain the substance. Now, with newer methods of
producing meth and greater quantities being brought across the Mexican
border, the drug proliferates.

"The availability of meth has become so great," Haynes said. "Cocaine
did fall off the screen for a while, but now, we can find and purchase
coke as easily as we can meth."

Addressing America's meth epidemic will not only "take a village," but
a village that understands what law enforcement can and cannot do, as
well as the possible consequence of such suggestions as legalizing
drugs.

"This drug issue is not a drug task force problem, not a law
enforcement problem. It is a community problem," Haynes said. "It has
to be all of us recognizing the problem and asking, 'Do we want to
combat it or bury our heads in the sand?' It takes this community to
say we don't want drugs."

A zero-tolerance atmosphere will discourage drug dealers from coming
to roost in Montrose, but that alone isn't enough, Haynes said.
Residents need to understand the way the legal system works - it isn't
always as simple as phoning in an anonymous tip because one suspects
his or her neighbors of dealing or using meth.

Haynes said he wasn't faulting anyone, but that politicians needed to
do more to address meth and the drug problem in general.

"When do you hear any politicians addressing the drug issue?" he said.
"From that perspective, it seems to have fallen off the radar screen.
Our drug task force is barely hanging on because of funding. Who's
going to combat this area's No. 1 problem?"

Recent legislation in Colorado restricted the sale of products
containing pseudoephedrine, meth's active ingredient. Haynes said that
has "significantly reduced" local and domestic meth labs, but it
remains relatively easy to find a supply source, such as Mexican and
Californian super labs. Controlling the supply from Mexico requires
politicians to see the meth issue in terms of immigration concerns
that now focus on economics.

"I haven't heard one politician yet say a word about the drug problem
being caused by the drug cartels and the network of illegal
immigrants," Haynes said. "That's what I'd like to see stopped."

Haynes said in a previous story concerning international meth supply
sources that not all immigrants were necessarily drug runners.

Since the Daily Press spoke to Haynes, both state and national
politicians have offered measures aimed at combatting the meth problem
(see Sunday's Daily Press), including Colorado Rep. Josh Penry's
resolution urging a Congressional partnership with the Mexican
government to stop flow the trans-border flow of meth. That resolution
unanimously passed the state House Wednesday.

Does Criminalizing Meth Work?

Meth is classified as a schedule II controlled substance with limited
legitimate medical use. Possessing, distributing or manufacturing it
is a crime and those convicted of such offenses in the local Seventh
Judicial District have been sentenced to prison - most recently, a man
who sought Community Corrections and said he'd disassociated himself
from the meth circle. He received five years.

"Possibly, it (prison) isn't the best way, but I don't know what else
is available to us," Deines said. "Prevention is the best answer, but
once they are hooked on it and will not give it up, or give up
committing crimes to obtain more, then the only answer is to be
incarcerated."

Deines said a stint in the county jail has kept criminal addicts away
from meth - but not always for long. "If you talk to them, they will
tell you that more than likely when they get out, they will find some
more meth. We've had numerous inmates admit that, even though they
look and feel better. They know in their hearts they will use it
again. that's what's so scary about it."

Whether incarceration is effective in deterring meth use is "the
million dollar question," Assistant District Attorney Mark Adams said.
"I think the system is helping people, particularly those that want to
be helped, who will face up to their addiction and make a decision to
take advantage of treatment programs the justice system is now
offering," he said.

Adams said, however, that prison-based treatment doesn't always
work.

"Clearly in a lot of cases, it's failing. It's a complicated issue,
too complicated than to say we just need to warehouse everybody," he
said.

As for legalizing meth? "It's too dangerous a drug," Deines said.
"It's too habit forming." While he could at least understand the
arguments of those advocating for the legalization of other drugs,
Deines said no to meth. "Meth is the one drug I'd say 'absolutely
not,' because I don't know how you'd control the addiction," he said.
"It alters too many things. I wish I had the answers."

Chief Probation Officer Carol Warner said much the same. "I'm not for
criminalizing behavior that just hurts yourself, but when you learn
about the fall out, the injury to children, to elderly, to families,
you realize this (meth use) is not a victimless crime," she said.

"They (users) don't have the intention of hurting anybody, but they
do."

Harvey Palefsky, a local public defender, said he's seen enough of
meth to make him re-evaluate his opinion concerning legalization.
"There was a time I thought if we legalized drugs, with controls, a
lot of the money we spent on 'the Drug War' could be spent on
treatment; that was the answer. That was before meth."

Palefsky said he was no longer certain, but he also wasn't certain
current approaches were working. "I think we need to rechannel our
energies. Just locking people up and letting them out on the street
again is not the answer either."

Nor, said Montrose County Judge John Mitchel, would legalizing meth
make its attendant social woes disappear. "The devastation we see is
in families," he said, pointing to financial hardships, evictions and
foreclosures that come about when meth addicts don't pay the bills.
The drug also takes a toll on familial relationships and has been
linked to domestic abuse, including child neglect.

"It just snowballs," Mitchel said. "Kids in this situation are in
danger. It affects every single aspect in this community. I think it
(legalization) is a terrible idea."

District Judge Dennis Friedrich added that legalization was out of the
hands of judges. "It's not my decision. It's a societal decision," he
said.

Haynes said he is opposed to legalizing drugs, even marijuana. "We
have, apparently, a large segment of our society that thinks marijuana
ought to be OK," he said. "Marijuana is a stepping stone to all drug
problems. In almost every case where there's meth or coke, there's
also marijuana."

'We're Going to Deal With It'

Though meth has become a popular media subject in the past few years,
it has been eroding society for quite some time.

"The problem with meth is that is has been killing and ruining
children for years," Probation Officer Bill Jackson said.

Originally manufactured in rural areas so as not to attract the notice
of authorities, meth began spreading to metro areas and then made its
way to large population centers in the northeast. That, Jackson said,
is when the national media began paying attention.

"Nobody gave a damn whether somebody's trailer would blow up, but when
it was an apartment in Cleveland," that got attention. "...Now that
Newsweek says meth's a problem, it is."

Other drugs once captured the public's attention the way meth is doing
now, he added, pointing to the crack cocaine epidemic in the 1990s.
"What are we going to do with meth? The same thing we did with crack
cocaine. We're going to deal with it."