OFFICER DISCUSSES DANGERS OF METH WITH ANTI-DRUG GROUP

WARNER ROBINS - Speaking from 43 years of experience, John Trussell
estimates that about 40 percent of all crimes are drug-related.

Trussell, chief probation officer for the state Department of
Corrections in Houston County, spoke to Families Against
Methamphetamine Abuse at its meeting Tuesday at Flint Energies. FAMA
is a new group organizing in Houston County.

"A lot of times when you pick up the newspaper, you read about people
involved in a traffic accident or an armed robbery, and many times
those are drug-related," Trussell said.

For example, a person who steals a billfold and uses a credit card to
purchase something to sell for cash often is feeding a drug habit,
Trussell said.

One of the most insidious drugs on the rise is methamphetamine, and
the synthetic stimulant can be made with common household products in
garbage cans, trunks of cars and hotel rooms, he said.

Manufacturing the drug is very dangerous, and meth labs are considered
hazardous material sites, Trussell said.

Sometimes the only way for a person who has a substance-abuse problem
to change is for a crisis to develop in their lives, he said.

Once someone is sentenced to time in prison or a detention center,
that person is off the drugs and has the opportunity to receive
counseling and treatment, he said.

But 60 percent of the people who get out of jail or prison return to
drug use within three years, Trussell said. Trussell said it's
important to either educate people about the dangers of meth before
they form the habit or to use the threat of jail to get them into
treatment, he said.

"The preference is to bring about change, rather than lock somebody
up," he said. "If a person feels like they're about to go to jail, a
lot of times you get more of a commitment from them."

For a parent who has had a child or young adult arrested for meth use,
probably the best thing to do is leave them in jail and not bond them
out right away, Trussell said.

Call it tough love, Trussell said, but once the person is off the drug
for a while, it may be easier to convince them to get treatment.

While locked up, that person does not have access to drugs, is
isolated from family and friends, and experiences a loss of privacy
and freedom, he said.

But for others, unless they are personally motivated to get help,
there's not a lot a parent or family member can do, he said.

For those willing to get help for their substance-abuse problem, there
are several treatment programs in the area, many run by Christian
organizations, he said.

Trussell estimated it would cost at least $100,000 - mostly through
private donations - to build a long-term treatment facility in Houston
County.

FAMA is now in the process of becoming incorporated, said James
Rockefeller, a Warner Robins attorney heading the group. The group
began forming in April and is expanding, he said.

The group started with about 15 to 20 family members of clients
Rockefeller has represented who have gotten into trouble because of
meth abuse, he said.

"What I saw happening with meth is people from good families had
daughters and sons who never before were in trouble going to prison,"
Rockefeller said. "These were kids going from being decent students
and good people to into prison within a year."

As a result, the families decided to fight back to educate others
about the problem, create a support network and the long-term
possibility of building a treatment facility in Houston County,
Rockefeller said.