Local entities combat meth use despite funding cuts
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Twelve years ago, there were four narcotics officers patrolling the Lake County and Flathead Reservation region. The Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribal Law and Order provided three of the officers, and one was from the Lake County Sheriff’s Office. The Northwest Drug Task Force, an effort covering a five-county area in Western Montana, funded the four officers. The taskforce is dedicated to targeting, disrupting and dismantling drug trafficking organizations in the region.
However, due to budget cuts that started in 2008, funding for local drug enforcement has dwindled or stopped in some cases.
Last year, the CSKT police force and Lake County lost all funding from the Northwest Montana Drug Task Force.
Today, the CSKT tribal law and order is the only law enforcement agency in Lake County that employs a full-time drug investigator.
“Since then with all the cuts, it’s dwindled down to one,” said police captain Louis Fiddler, adding even though the Northwest Drug Task Force does not fund the one narcotics officer, he is still affiliated with the program.
Despite decreased numbers, Fiddler, who was a part of the task force 12 years ago, said the officer made five to seven arrests last month alone that were meth-related.
Patrol officer Vern Fisher used to work as one of the two drug investigators provided by the tribal police. Fisher explained that the drug task force used to receive two to three calls a week to the Northwest Drug Task Force hotline with tips or information.
People who suspected a meth lab in their neighborhood are often asked to call or report it online because of the potential dangers that exist. To avoid the possibility of fire, explosion, death or serious illness, only trained workers should dismantle a lab. Some of the indicators of a meth lab include: unusual or strong odors; renters who pay their landlords in cash; lots of traffic and excessive amounts of clear glass containers brought in to the home.
“(Methamphetamine) use increases violent crimes and theft, and obviously there is a problem with children who have parents who are addicted to meth,” Fisher said. Statistics from a 2007 preliminary report on trends and impact in Montana indicated that 53 percent of children in foster care are there due to meth. And 50 percent of adults in prison are there because of meth-related crimes.
According to a 2004 Missoulian article, in 2000, Lake County led the state in meth lab cleanups with six. In 2003, Northwest Drug Task Force officers conducted 102 probation searches, court-approved search warrants and searches with consent. Officers seized 5.3 pounds of methamphetamine during this time. One seizure alone accounted for one-third of all meth seized in Lake County in 2003. By 2003, Lake County ranked in the top five in discovered meth labs.
According to Fiddler, methamphetamine use is “most definitely” still an issue in Lake County.
The U.S. Department of Justice’s 2009 National Drug Threat Assessment stated that 66 percent of state and local agencies in the Western states perceive meth as their greatest drug threat.
Nationally, meth is considered one of the greatest drug threats, second only to cocaine. A 2009 Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration national drug threat survey shows the number of people nationally who have tried meth for the first time increased by 62 percent from 2008 to 2009.
“(Arrests) seems to be increasing in the last six to eight months, but when I was in the drug task force it would often go in phases,” Fiddler said.
He attributed part of the recent increase to officers being more proactive in patrolling areas and looking for suspicious activity.
“I always preach to be more proactive rather than waiting for calls to respond,” Fiddler said. Nevertheless, Fiddler explained that the decreased numbers still impacts time and manpower dedicated strictly to drug investigations.
“We did have a time period where we were not hearing about (meth) as much,” said Kim Azure, tribal health department’s behavioral health program manager.
In 2005, the Montana Meth Project was launched with the approach to arm teens and young adults with the facts about methamphetamine so that when they were presented with the opportunity to try it, they wouldn’t.
The Meth Project founded projects in eight states including Montana. Since the project was implemented in Montana, teen meth use has declined 63 percent, thanks to bold campaigns that graphically outline the risks of meth use.
However, according to Azure, who has worked in the area for 33 years, in the last two or three years, meth use in Lake County has increased.
Another alarming aspect of this jump in use is a rising number of users experiencing psychotic side effects caused by product cut with bug spray.
“I don’t know if it enhances the affect but it is creating psychotic behaviors that can be frightening and dangerous,” Azure said. “It’s a horribly seductive drug and has such an impact on users’ rationality.”
Azure explained that though the Montana Meth Project was extremely effective in stopping first-time users, the problem is still growing in the community, and is growing.
“We got complacent,” Azure shared. “You don’t hear about the big meth lab busts in the media anymore … I think it’s our human nature; we’re drawn to the glitter and the glue, and when that fades, we go on to something new.”
When it comes to the peaks and valleys of meth use, Azure theorized it might have to do with supply and demand. Azure said opiate addiction is another gripping problem that has plagued many communities in Montana, including Lake County.
“It’s the supply and demand. When people can’t find meth, they switch addictions (for example) if opiates are more available,” Azure said.
She explained all drug abuse, especially meth abuse, has a devastating effect on families and children.
“You see children who are not actively parented … struggle at school … and don’t have that support or love,” Azure explained.
Chronic meth abuse can cause parents to neglect the basic needs of children in addition to living in homes that expose them to hazardous chemicals.
“The substance becomes the most important thing in their life, and most addicts can’t see it,” Azure said. “During the meth crisis, people were saying, ‘You don’t get better.’ If you set up in people’s minds they can’t get better, they won’t. … People get better. I see it every single day.”
