Law enforcement discusses meth, prescription drug problem
Hey savvy news reader! Thanks for choosing local.
You are now reading
1 of 3 free articles.
POLSON — “As a police chief, your goal is to put together the best team that you can, but you will never take away all the drugs,” Polson Police Chief Wade Nash said.
Nash and Chief Juvenile Probation Officer of 20th Judicial District Youth Court Services Barbara Monaco spoke to Heart and Soul board members on. Oct. 15.
The topic was serious — methamphetamine use and it’s rise in Lake County.
To combat drugs in the area, Tribal Law Enforcement, Lake County Sheriff’s Office and Polson Police established the Mission Mountain Drug Task Force. It was formed in March of 2013, the first since the Northwest Drug Task Force moved out of the area in 2005. Since March, just in the city of Polson, officers have initiated 72 drug investigations and conducted 26 search warrants, including 15 probationary searches and 68 pending felony cases. Criminal charges can’t be filed until the Montana Crime Lab processes the evidence.
Nash is also adding a furry drug fighter, Llop, pronounced Yop, a German shepherd. Canine Officer Juan Maso and Llop “will be together 24-7.” Llop is 18 months old and is in training in Bozeman, learning narcotics detection as well as locating Alzheimer’s patients.
While some police dogs are very aggressive Nash noted that Llop is not so, “I want a dog that I can take to Cherry Valley to interact with the kids,” he said.
Officers are seeing 11 and 12-year-olds hooked on meth, Nash said.
Monaco confirmed this, saying she’s seeing ages of youth drug addictions drop as low as 12 and 14.
From Jan. 12 to Sept. 13, Monaco said the majority of tickets are for minor in possession (of drugs or alcohol.)
Youth court has addressed 45 first offenses, 16 re-offenders and six third time repeaters, all for alcohol use. For possession of marijuana, 40 juveniles have been charged with five repeat offenders. One was convicted on a meth charge and there are other pending cases.
These are only drug and alcohol related charges. Monaco also deals with kids for theft, burglary, criminal mischief, etc.
“We’re seeing more and more prescription drugs, even kids taking over-the-counter meds,” she said.
“Drugs are very accessible and easily obtained,” she stated.
Parents, older adults, grandparents, aunts and uncles all have prescription medicines, leftover Lortabs, Hyrocodone, etc.
Nash said for “70 percent of all juveniles, that’s where they get their drugs.”
Mission Valley’s location, situated along U.S. Highway 93, is a contributing factor. According to Monaco, drug traffickers and manufacturers are using the route to transport drugs to the Bakken oil fields.
Monaco and her deputy juvenile probation officers hold children in their system accountable for grades, their whereabouts, curfew and their friends. (Children on probation aren’t allowed to hang out with other minors on probation.) Monaco also asks families to have dinner together at least once a week.
A new truancy law will make parents and guardians more responsible, Monaco said. After action plans are created and meetings with school resource officers take place, if children miss school, parents and guardians will be fined $100 and sentenced to 20 hours of community service.
A question about the Montana Meth project prompted Nash to say that his department and the Mission Mountain Drug Task Force work strictly in enforcement. The Montana Meth Project educates people “so you know what a meth lab looks like.”
Many people envision a laboratory with glass vessels and complicated tubing, techs in white coats and a sophisticated process, when in actuality, two-liter plastic bottles with tubes sticking out of them indicate meth labs.
Monaco added that she’d recently learned people are “cooking meth” in a cold pack, a gel-filled rectangle usually frozen to relieve pain. The meth cookers break the packs open, put all the ingredients in the package and cook the meth, all in less than 30 minutes.
Nash noted that though hisdepartment receiving 7,200 calls thus far in 2013 is grim news, there is a positive side of the story.
“We have a great community that cares and supports law enforcement. I think we are on the right track,” he said.
