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News (Media Awareness Project) - US IL: 'More Addicts Than We Realize'
Title:US IL: 'More Addicts Than We Realize'
Published On:2003-01-23
Source:Peoria Journal Star (IL)
Fetched On:2008-01-21 13:49:18
'MORE ADDICTS THAN WE REALIZE'

Tazewell Recognizes Users Need Intense Rehab In Addition To Stiff Penalties

PEKIN - The "before" and "after" mug shots of 40-year-old Pekin resident
Penny Wood show the effects of prolonged methamphetamine use.

"These photographs communicate the reasons why a person should not use meth
better than any personal statement I can make," Tazewell County State's
Attorney Stewart Umholtz said.

But for Wood - and other meth abusers - the real issue is whether there can
be successful recovery from this highly addictive drug.

"We probably have more addicts than we realize," Pekin Police Chief Tim
Gillespie said. The Pekin Police Department has been ambushed by meth, with
40 drug-making labs found in 2002 compared with only two in 1999.

Wood pleaded guilty Tuesday to unlawful possession of a methamphetamine
manufacturing chemical and unlawful possession of a controlled substance.
She was sentenced to four years probation.

But her plea agreement requires the release of her photographs from 1996 to
the present, showing her strikingly different appearances from 1998 to 2002.

Wood could not be reached for comment.

Wood's probation also requires she undergo intensive rehabilitation -
something meth addicts fail far too often, many law-enforcement officials say.

Meth is made from easy-to-find components, including pseudophedrine and
ephedrine (commonly found in cold pills). It is considered a public safety
hazard, and authorities consider its effect as highly addictive, rivaling
heroin.

Plans now are under way to get meth users help.

At Tazwood Mental Health Center in Pekin, CEO Mike Polson said within one
month, an intensive out-patient rehabilitation and after-care program could
be implemented.

"All the studies show the best treatments for those into meth are to deal
with them differently than those dealing with alcohol or other drugs," said
Nancy Bonnette, who manages three outpatient sites at Tazwood including
substance abuse. "Follow-ups would need to be done differently because
(meth user) cravings and other issues would be a little bit different."

Polson said he hopes Tazwood is included in a Tazewell County task force
assembled earlier this month to attack the county's meth concerns.

"What you do with these people after they've been convicted is where
Tazwood can step in and say: 'We can complete this picture, complete this
puzzle,' " Polson said, noting Tazwood's willingness to increase its
current 75-hour drug rehabilitation program that also assists meth addicts.

A Tazewell County adult drug court also may be formed to help stop meth and
other drug users.

David Mills, director of probation and court service, said Tazewell County
applied recently for a $500,000 grant that would partner treatment
providers, judges, court services and the states attorney's office to
better speed treatment. The drug court proposal is endorsed by Umholtz,
Judge J. Peter Ault and chief public defender John Bernardi.

Mills said the drug court isn't specific for meth users but admitted a lot
of participants in Tazewell County will have used the drug. The county
should know by October whether it's awarded the grant.

Meanwhile, Tom Murphy, chief of operations at White Oaks Companies, said
meth addicts are normally referred by a person's workplace or the court
system. Treatment at White Oaks includes individualized counseling, medical
detoxification, rehabilitation and case management.

"(Meth) doesn't have to grow to another cocaine problem," Murphy said.
"It's more containable if we're committed to it."
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