CHIEF OFFERS DRUG ADDICTS HELP

Amnesty, Help At Treatment Center Part Of Program

GALENA, Kan. - Galena police Chief Troy Newman is making an offer to
residents addicted to methamphetamine or other drugs - seek help from
police, and officers will get them into treatment with no strings attached.

Here's Newman's deal: If someone comes to him seeking help, the addict will
not be questioned about who their supplier is or who else they know who
uses drugs. If the person wants to volunteer it, Newman said he will take
the information.

He said his offer does not apply to people who are being arrested for drug
possession or those who ask for help while a search warrant is being
served, and officers will not be able to ignore it if someone comes into
the department to seek help while carrying drugs or drug paraphernalia.

Newman doesn't have any pattern or prototype for his addict amnesty
program. It's an idea he said was born out of his desire to cut back on the
number of raids of meth labs in the area.

"We need to be more compassionate," he said.

So far, Newman hasn't had any takers.

Other police officials say they would also do what they can to help addicts
seeking assistance from them.

"I think there are places we would refer them to get treatment," said
Jasper County, Mo., Sheriff Archie Dunn. "We would certainly try to help
someone who walks in and says, 'I need help.' "

Dunn said he thinks an addict who turns to police for help with their
addiction would be pretty desperate and genuinely need help.

Delmar Haase, chief of the Carl Junction Police Department, said that if
someone sought help from police for a drug problem, officials at Ozark
Center would be contacted.

Newton County, Mo., Sheriff Ken Copeland said if an addict were to seek
help from his department, they would also be offered transportation to a
drug-treatment center. But Copeland said he doesn't expect any addicts to
seek help from his department. He said his deputies are busy with service
calls and arrests.

"We don't have time to be a social-service agency," Copeland said. "Right
now, we arrest the offenders. Our jail is full of drug suspects and drug
violators."

For those who may be wary, Chris Meek, a Baxter Springs defense attorney,
said there is no crime against being addicted.

Meek said if an addict seeks help from police and they're not in possession
of drugs, there would be no basis for an arrest.

"It's a good idea, if it's not a ruse to interrogate people," he said of
Newman's idea.

Newman's plan is to use Teen Challenge of the Four States, near Diamond,
Mo. Despite the name, the program accepts people of all ages.

Patrick Stewart, 37, grew up in Galena and said he started using drugs when
he was 14. He said he used cocaine in the 1980s. He drank alcohol and
smoked pot in the 1990s.

"I got hooked on meth in 1997, shooting up with a needle," Stewart said. He
said it changed him dramatically.

"I was high every day, two weeks at a time," he said. "Meth makes you such
a different person. You don't have time for the people you love. I sold
everything I had. I stole money from my family. I loved my kids, but I
didn't visit them. Once I got on meth, I missed about seven years of my
kids' lives."

Stewart said family members got him in touch with the Teen Challenge
program. He entered the program in January of 2004 and said he has been
clean ever since.

The program generally takes 15 to 16 weeks, Stewart said. He said phone
calls are restricted initially and letters are limited to immediate family.
The program also requires people in it to work.

Stewart now is on the staff of Teen Challenge. He said he thinks Newman's
policy has the potential to help people if they take advantage of it.

While many drug-treatment programs have waiting lists, Newman said he would
look for solutions.

"I will absolutely have some place to refer them to," he said. "I would
like to take them to treatment right then and there (when they come into
the office). You've got to submit an application and they have to accept you."

Stewart said spaces are always available in Teen Challenge, though it might
require a person to relocate to another area of the country while in the
program.

The cost of treatment programs also can be prohibitive, Newman said. He
said Teen Challenge costs around $875 a month. He said Teen Challenge and
most other treatment programs offer grants or scholarships to people who
can't afford the program. He said he is currently working with someone to
get a scholarship to the program and is writing a recommendation letter for
them.

"I would be willing to do just about anything to help these individuals get
into rehab," he said.

Jack Selberg, program director for Valley Hope Alcohol and Drug Treatment
Center, Atchison, said he was enthusiastic about Newman's plan.

"I think it's a wonderful idea," Selberg said. "To me, it seems like the
right thing to do and the best way to handle that. There's a decent chance
for them to turn their lives around and get sober and straight."