Series: 2 Of 10

A WAY OUT OF METH'S CYCLE

Meth's Misery: Mandatory Treatment Offers The Change To Quit ... Or Else.

Getting caught with methamphetamine, even in small quantities, is a felony
in Oregon that can result in a jail sentence.

However, for many Douglas County drug offenders, a bust can also result in
a referral to drug court or some other mandated treatment program that
could lead to recovery.

Deputy District Attorney Jeff Sweet describes the drug court intervention
as a "fantastic program." It's designed to motivate addicts to stay clean
by holding the threat of jail or work crew over their heads, while
addressing some of the underlying personal issues that contributed to their
addictive lifestyles in the first place.

"There's a perception that our prisons are just filled with people
convicted of possession," Sweet says. "For just your low-level, typical
possession of methamphetamine (case) ... the first thing is most people
would be eligible for drug court."

If the offender successfully graduates from drug court, the charge is
dismissed and the record of the person's arrest can eventually be expunged.

Another more aggressive option available to some is a residential substance
abuse treatment program initiated last year, which involves six months of
intensive treatment in a separate dormitory within the Douglas County Jail.

Still others may qualify for a conditional discharge, where the defendant
pleads guilty and the charge is either reduced or dismissed at the end of
an 18-month probationary period.

Recovering Roseburg addict Andrea York didn't qualify for drug court
because she was caught with so much methamphetamine when she was arrested
in January 2001. However, she also was arrested for driving under the
influence, which landed her in a diversion program with Serenity Lane, a
drug and alcohol treatment program.

"I was mandated to ... a diversion, which is only a 90-day program, but I
had so many relapses at Serenity Lane that the counselor over there told me
that I needed something more intensive," Andrea said.

She began an intensive outpatient substance abuse treatment program through
ADAPT in Roseburg, which involved three days of treatment each week for 10
months. She still didn't take it seriously, however.

"I was never sober through the whole thing," she said. "I graduated it
loaded, actually. At my graduation I was high."

She was released from the program in June 2002, but a failed urinalysis
test in November almost put her in jail for six months. Her probation
officer decided on house arrest instead, until a bed opened up last January
for a six-month residential program at Crossroads, also in Roseburg.

After 17 years of hard living, Andrea decided it was time to make a change.

"The bottom line is if you're not ready, you're not ready ... everybody has
a bottom, and sometimes you think you've hit it and (then) you just get a
shovel and keep digging down."

Andrea says simply incarcerating users will not solve the methamphetamine
problem either, because jail is one of the best places for users to
befriend other addicts and expand their circle of potential suppliers.
Andrea's first few weeks in recovery were the worst. Physically haggard and
emotionally ravaged, she felt lost and unsure of herself.

"That first 30 days is really hard," she said. "You're just wandering,
waiting for people to point you in the right direction because you don't
know how to live."

Although she has been sober for more than 11 months, Andrea says she must
remain vigilant and stay committed to her treatment program if she is to
succeed at her recovery. " You will never have a harder job than being a
drug addict ... the getting, the using, the selling," she said. "I believe
that for me and everybody I know to stay clean, that's how they have to
attack their sobriety."