Local leaders tackle drug problem
Meth alliance comes together
A scourge has plagued communities across the country for decades. It is worse than a disease, since people were the cause and creator of such a calamity. Methamphetamines don’t care about the back- ground of those it touches, the color of their skin or the personal lives of those individuals still suffering from ill effects long after it sweeps up everyone into the whirlwind of chaos.
This is what the drug does to people. From the first intake of a hit or injection of a syringe, the drug completely takes control of a person’s life. The effects ripple out from there, and is the cause for the ruin of families, the increase of criminal behavior, and a drain on the resources for the community across all walks of life.
Officials from a variety of organizations, local gov- ernments and more came together to find a way to not only curtail the negative effects of drug addiction, but to reach out to those who have suffered and come through their dependence on methamphetamines.
Robin Forston was one of those on hand talking about how meth use has caused the lives of scores of families in Polk County to spiral out of control. Forston, a longtime member of the Department of Family and Children Services, described how one of the women she worked with had gotten on meth all the way back in 2003, and over the subsequent years got into trouble and lost custody of her children. She fought her way back to sobriety and reunited with her family, only to lose them again.
One of the many issues she raised with the community’s relationship with drugs overall is the lack of inpatient treatment facility access for women and men in Polk County. A small residential treatment facility is run by Highland Rivers Health in Cedartown not far from where the meeting took place at New Hope Baptist Church, but the amount of space is limited and is mainly focused on getting patients to wash drugs out of their system. Forston did ask for local leaders to support efforts of spreading the word of becoming foster parents to children in DFCS custody, and not just those who have suffered the ill-effects of meth’s impact on their family lives.
Judges and law enforcement officials also spoke out. Superior Court Judge Meng Lim for instance provided commentary on his side of the enforcement issue, reminding the audience of a high profile bust that occurred in year’s past that included the takedown of several local leaders in methamphetamine trafficking.
He pointed out though that no matter what life was like for someone who tries methamphetamines for the first time, everything is different from then on.
“I think it is clear to all of us now that it doesn’t matter if you come from a really well educated and well established family, to somebody who was born into drug addiction,” Lim said. “Meth will get you just about all the time.”
Additionally, Polk County Police Chief Kenny Dodd also talked about the great work by the Drug Task Force to curtail trafficking efforts, but that a focus also needs to be placed on mid-level dealers in the community as well.
There are indeed a lot of moving parts to the problem of both curtailing addiction and enforcement against trafficking in the community, especially Polk County.
Yet the organizer of the first of many meetings, County Commission chair Jennifer Hulsey, is calling for action.
She told the group that they’d be meeting again in March to bring back ideas that can be formulated into plans on how to curb and eradicate methamphetamines locally, with one message in mind.
Hulsey said one of the first ideas to get the coalition moving forward is to advertise their presence, and make it clear that drug trafficking won’t be tolerated in the community anymore. One idea she proposed as a starting point was the potential to put up billboards much like Floyd County officials did when they formed the Gang Task Force in 2014, following several high-profile crimes in the Rome area. Additionally, she also wants to push for further education about drug addiction in local schools.
However one person at the meeting reminded the audience that despite all the horror stories surrounding the drug, one particular piece of the puzzle had so far been missing from the conversation: how to avoid creating additional hardships and stigmas for those trying to recover.
Wrayanne Parker, Women’s Program Coordinator with the Georgia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities in the office of addictive disease, said one of the hardest problems for addicts to overcome is the attitude that is formed around what they have suffered. That stigma against those who are in recovery from addiction is also a reason why Parker said there isn’t the services there should be to help those in need.
One way for local officials to fix that is by agencies and stakeholders working together, but have to understand that first and foremost recovery is a messy process where people sometimes get deeper into addiction before they truly heal.
Those interested in taking part in the latest effort to combat drugs ontact Hulsey at jhulsey@polkga.org.