JUDGE SAYS INTERVENTION IS KEY TO HALTING DRUG USE

BENTON - Polk County Sessions Court Judge Bill Baliles said intervening in
people's lives before they reach the age of 20 is the key to reducing drug
use. That's why he is helping to organize a group of volunteer mentors from
Polk and Bradley counties to serve in his courtroom. He hopes to expand the
program to the rest of Tennessee.

(Editor's Note: This is the second of a two-part series about the need of
volunteer court mentors in Polk and Bradley counties according to Polk
County Sessions Court Judge Bill Baliles.)

Joyce Pack was selected director of the Polk County volunteer court
mentoring program and Jane Sines as the assistant director. They were
selected during a meeting of about 50 concerned citizens last week who met
at the Lifestyle Center of Benton.

The people are organizing as a group at the urging of Baliles. The two
women will coordinate volunteer mentors and try to match them with a
juvenile offender.

There is a strong pastoral counseling program the judge utilizes in cases
involving domestic issues.

"The pastoral counseling program is working very well in domestic cases
when the husband and wife both attend," Baliles said. "The pastors are not
judgmental. They listen and don't condemn."

Jerry Herron, associate pastor of Ocoee Church of God, is one of the
20-plus pastors working with the judge in the pastoral counseling program.
He said it takes six to eight weeks of counseling for each couple he works
with. Most of the domestic cases he sees deal with drugs and alcohol or
parents and children at odds over personal choices.

Herron said pastoral counselors are urged to use Bible teaching.

Baliles said he wants to limit pastoral counseling to domestic issues to
prevent from overwhelming the clergy.

According to Herron, he was ready to resign from the ministry about two
years ago because he had so many irons in the fire he couldn't manage them.
He changed his mind after the pastor preached about not quitting in the
face of difficulty.

That is the very reason Baliles wants to establish a pool of volunteer
court mentors based on a movement started by former judge Keith J.
Leenhouts. It is important to have volunteers from Bradley as well as Polk
County.

"When I hold court in Benton, I always have someone there from Bradley
County, so it's important to have mentors from there," he said.

Drugs cannot be legislated out of existence. He said, "You have to
intervene before they're 20 years old, before they become addicted.
Otherwise, you'd just as well ask them to fill out a funeral plan."

He said first time offenders need someone to hold them accountable. It
depends on the individual, but the judge believes a volunteer would be
required to work 30 minutes to an hour every two weeks.

"You don't have to have a degree," Baliles said. "Sometimes, the best
counselors are lay people."

The judge said the social resources available to him in Polk County are not
equal to the resources available in Chattanooga.

"That needs to be fixed, but it may never be fixed," he said.

Baliles was a pharmacist before he became an attorney. He said no one he
has ever dealt with wanted to be a drug addict when they grew up.

"I can't think of anyone who has ever benefited from drug abuse," he said.
"I look at this as an illness and some are more susceptible to drug
addiction than others."

He said there are two types of addiction - mental and physical. It is
impossible to become physically addicted after using drugs one time.
However, the mind can crave the feeling derived from drugs.

"Meth equals about 100 cups of coffee and some people want that sudden
rush," he said. "That's what makes methamphetamine such a problem. Some
people are more susceptible than others. It's just like some people are
more susceptible to cancer than others.

"No one can become addicted after one time, or even two or three times.
Physical addiction depends on the drug, the frequency of use, weight of the
user and a lot of factors."

Baliles said one thing some people don't understand, is a person can be
addicted, but not physically dependent. It's the same as an alcoholic who
only drinks in certain situations. It takes about 90 days to break the
addiction, but it does no good if a person is sent back to the same
environment where the problem began.

People don't talk about adult peer pressure, but it is a influential among
young adults as it is on children and adolescents.

The judge said he knows accountability makes a difference and you can't
have enough probation officers to deal with people.