Page 18 - Flathead Beacon // 8.3.16

NEWS
IN DEPTH
Meth con scated by the Northwest Montana Drug Task Force. GREG LINDSTROM | FLATHEAD BEACON
Lake, Mineral, Sanders and Glacier. Mark Mulcahy has been the task force com- mander for three-and-a-half years, over- seeing eight detectives, including under- cover agents.
Every week, Mulcahy’s detectives con scate methamphetamine, or pur- chase it through undercover work, to try and determine its source. A decade ago, the task force would usually con s- cate a few ounces of meth at a time, but in the last few years the haul has grown signi cantly. In 2014, the task force took nine pounds of methamphetamine o the street. The next year, it hauled in 15 pounds worth $5 million, and so far in 2016 it has con scated or purchased more than 20 pounds.
Mulcahy said dealers often transport methamphetamine from Washington to sell it at a higher price here – an ounce in Seattle goes for upwards of $450, but in the Flathead Valley they can make more than $1,200 for the same amount.
Increased meth use and rising prices have contributed to an increase in theft, too, Flathead County Sheri Chuck Curry said.
“Being an addict is expensive and a lot of people don’t have six- gure jobs to maintain their habit, so they turn to property crime,” Curry said.
Mulcahy and his agents said they believe drug use in the Flathead Valley is more widespread than most people realize.
“My perception of drug users has changed 180 degrees since taking this assignment,” said one of the task force’s undercover agents who asked not to be named because of the job’s sensitivity. “Some of these folks are decent people who are just dealing with addiction... They’re not violent criminals.”
But that’s not always the case. Accord- ing to court documents, the murder of a 35-year-old Kalispell man in the spring was related to drugs and one of the sus- pects, Melisa Ann Crone, allegedly had methamphetamine when she was arrested.
“The more drugs we get the more
violence we could have,” Mulcahy said. “This is still a nice place to live in and we want to keep it that way.”
Some law enforcement o cials believe that the valley’s methamphetamine prob- lem is one of the reasons the county’s jail is constantly crowded. Addiction seems to be causing problems in other parts of the criminal justice system, too. Judge Allison said most of the cases he sees are drug related; even in those that aren’t, drug use is often an underlying factor.
“I think drug use is becoming a much bigger problem in this community than most people realize,” Allison said.
The spread of drug use is also having impacts on other institutions. According to the Montana Department of Health and Human Services, in 2010 there were more than 800 children in foster care statewide because of neglect stemming from parental substance abuse. By April of this year, that number had doubled to more than 1,600. According to a Great Falls Tribune story in May, of the 150 foster care cases in Cascade County this year, nearly 60 percent were tied to meth- amphetamine use.
While in the past some have said that more jail space and harsher punishments would reduce drug use, Flathead District Court Judge David Ortley said it’s a far more complex problem that cannot be addressed by the justice system alone.
“You cannot incarcerate addiction away,” Ortley said. “You can lock some- one up and while they’re in jail or prison they may not use, but unless you change the way they think, they’ll go right back to using when they get out.”
Ortley and other judges have advo- cated for a more therapeutic approach, including sending those convicted of non-violent drug crimes to therapy instead of prison. Some have even sug- gested establishing a drug court that sen- tences defendants to treatment. Flathead County Commissioner Phil Mitchell said local o cials have been studying the idea in recent months and he believes it could help relieve the county’s jail overcrowd- ing problem.
“I want to nd options beyond just throwing people in jail,” he said.
District Court Judge Heidi Ulbricht previously ran a municipal drug and DUI court in Kalispell. She said she plans to apply for federal funds to establish a frug court at the district level in 2017.
Michael Cummins, executive director of the Flathead Valley Chemical Depen- dency Clinic, said he supports the idea of a drug court because it makes treat- ment, not punishment, the objective. The chemical dependency clinic, established in the 1970s, o ers drug evaluations and outpatient treatment, including therapy and counseling. It sees about 350 to 400 people annually.
Cummins said the clinic has seen an increase in people dealing with meth addiction in recent years. In 2013 and 2014, 11.8 percent of the clinic’s patients reported struggling with meth addic- tion, making it the third most abused substance after alcohol (59 percent) and marijuana (15.8 percent). But in 2015 and 2016, methamphetamine abuse climbed to 17.5 percent, making it the second most abused substance, ahead of marijuana.
But treatment isn’t an easy process and it’s not unusual for clients to relapse, Cummins said.
“Meth changes what the brain does and it can take a year of treatment and support for it to recover,” Cummins said. “You can’t just stay clean for 30 days or even six months and think you’re good. At that point, you’re just getting started.”
Cummins said the only way to address the state’s growing methamphetamine problem is to direct more resources toward education and treatment.
“(Montana’s meth) problem is far from solved,” said Amy Rue, executive director of the Montana Meth Project, which has been providing education regarding the drug’s dangers for more than a decade. “Some of the gains we made by shutting down domestic labs are being o set by an increase in meth coming from Mex- ico. To truly solve this problem we have to reduce the demand, and that can only be done through education.”
Eighteen years after he rst smoked methamphetamine as an 8-year- old, Ethan Smith has been clean for nine months. In October 2015, after losing custody of his son and his job, he decided enough was enough. With the help of therapy, counseling and support from other recovering methamphet- amine addicts, Smith said he is nally getting his life back on track, but it hasn’t been easy.
“This has been the hardest nine months of my life,” Smith said. “It’s been a living nightmare but every second that goes by for me is a lifetime record of sobri- ety because I haven’t been clean since I was 8-years-old.”
Smith got a job at a local auto shop and is living in a camper on his grandparents’ property. He’s working hard to get his life back in order and recently was allowed to have his son stay overnight with him. But the urge to use hasn’t gone away. When a craving hits, he usually calls a counselor or friend to talk him through it.
“When I come home to this crappy camper, I think how great it would be to crack open a beer,” he said. “But I know if I do that, it wouldn’t be long before I’m look- ing at a needle sticking out of my arm.”
Smith said his dream now is to stay clean, have a steady job, a family and a home. He knows that those ambitions will take time to achieve, but he’s con - dent he can do it, even though he knows he will always be an addict. The key is keeping the urges at bay and making the right choices.
“Life will never get easy, but if I make the right choices, it will get simpler,” he said.
Smith is especially open with friends about his past because he hopes that his story will resonate with other people who struggle with addiction.
“I want to be able to help the next Ethan Smith,” he said. “I’d rather wish death on someone than addiction, because all addiction is is a slow painful death.”
jfranz@ atheadbeacon.com
18
AUGUST 3, 2016 // FLATHEADBEACON.COM