NATION'S DRUG CZAR VISITS ETOWAH, MARSHALL COUNTIES

The nation's drug czar toured The Bridge Inc. in Etowah County and Marshall
County's drug court Monday.

White House Office of National Drug Control Policy Director John Walters
and U.S. Rep. Robert Aderholt, R-Haleyville, got a firsthand look at the
programs.

Walters, whose job takes him to many countries, said most areas feel
fragmented when it comes to the war on drugs.

"They would be envious of what you have here," he said, referring to the
close working relationship of law enforcement, counselors and others
involved in the fight against drugs while addressing a group at The Bridge
Inc., a drug treatment center. "You have what we can't create in Washington."

The two also talked with those enrolled in the programs in both counties.

"They told us what I hear in other places," Walters said. "Almost all start
with marijuana," before moving on to other drugs.

Walters called Marshall County's drug court program "state of the art."

"The movement together of enforcement, prevention and treatment ... you
have a fine group of individuals," Walters said.

Walters was invited to the area by Aderholt. The two met with drug court
officials and judges before holding a press conference on the steps of the
Marshall County Courthouse in Guntersville.

Walters said he wanted to get a sense of how drug problems affect different
sections of the country and to learn how resources provided by the federal
government can best be used at the local level.

"I met with one of the clients from the drug court," Walters said. "He told
me what I've heard in other places. The day that he was arrested was one of
the luckier days of his life. In fact, he may be alive because he was
arrested and brought to a drug court ... and that made it possible for him
to move on with a productive life in his community."

Those who graduate from the six-year-old drug court program in Marshall
County have a 7 percent recidivism rate - only 7 percent of them commit
drug-related crimes after graduation, Marshall County Presiding Circuit
Judge Tim Jolly said. Jolley, who works with the program, said 68 percent
of those who enter it graduate, and the other 32 percent go to a
work-release program or prison.

About 10 people a month are added to the drug court case load, which
currently includes 176 participants.

"Drug courts are an example of how we need to think about this issue but
frequently don't," Walters said. "It's not either enforcement or demand
reduction, prevention or treatment. What we have is a sophisticated
understanding applied here, where we work against supply and demand
together if we're going to make this problem smaller."

Jolley said he and other officials asked for federal money for juvenile
detention in connection with drug court. "We need money for additional
treatment programs," he said. "We have such a long waiting list to get into
treatment.

"In drug court, they either have a job or do community service," Jolley
said. "One of the things we've seen is once a person becomes drug free, you
can get them to work, and by doing that, they pay for part of their
treatment. By paying for part of their treatment, they actually have a
stake in their recovery. It seems to work."

Many of those in the drug court program are there because of crystal
methamphetamine. The crystal meth problem in Marshall County and other
rural areas is a two-part problem, Walters said: meth coming to the area
from super labs in Mexico through the Southeast United States and meth
being produced in smaller labs, which don't produce much of the drug but
are volatile and hazardous to the environment.

"The labs in the trailers are the ones that produce drug-exposed children
and a dangerous environment for explosions," Walters said. "They are less
volume in trafficking but a serious community threat. We are trying to
address this both with training and clean-up money and with law enforcement
that reaches throughout the country and the region attacking the drug trades."

Those who cook methamphetamine in small labs often buy products at retail
stores to do so, such as cold medicines that contain ephedrine. Walters
said research is going on to find ways to change the methods of bonding
some chemicals in medicines so they can't be broken down to make illegal drugs.

Pharmaceutical companies are helping to educate retailers about products
used to make illegal drugs. Marshall County's program is called Merchants
Against Meth.

"In addition there is an effort to redesign the racks that distribute
pseudoephedrine so you cannot remove multiple packs," Walters said. "What
we need ultimately is community education."

Walters said additional money for drug courts has been requested from
Congress. In his State of the Union address, President George W. Bush asked
for $600 million more for drug treatment over the next three years. Those
funds would allow the distribution of treatment vouchers, which would allow
local institutions to provide drug abuse treatment where there currently is
none available.

"We'd like the vouchers to be a way of improving quality," Walters said.
"We'd like to reimburse (treatment providers) based on an evaluation of the
client after he receives treatment.

"We know how to treat people. It's not a perfect science. We need to bring
that knowledge to more people and more places. That's why the president is
asking for the additional money," Walters said.