Posted on 01/20/2015 10:24:15 AM PST by ConservingFreedom
Local law enforcers, such as Rock Island County State's Attorney John McGehee and Quad City Metropolitan Enforcement Director Kevin Winslow say the solution to the heroin problem is to stop the dealers.
"We don't focus on addicts and users," Mr. Winslow said. "I think law enforcement as a whole wants to get the source of the problem."
In 2014, local officials filed their first case of drug-induced homicide against Jamil Steward, 26, of East Moline, who was accused of selling heroin that caused the overdose death of Michael Reid, 26, of Silvis.
Mr. Steward entered an Alford plea on Dec. 8 to felony unlawful delivery and is serving seven years in prison. In an Alford plea, the defendant doesn't plead guilty but admits there is enough evidence to convict him.
Similar cases have been brought to federal court, where the penalties are stiffer.
Prison not the answer
Not everyone thinks prison is the answer.
Former Davenport police officer Brian Gaughan was 20 when began his career in 1980. He said he became disenchanted with the War on Drugs while working as an undercover cop in Chicago.
He said he befriended a drug dealer to gather information against him and, at one point, was taken aside by the dealer's mother, who thanked him for being a positive influence on her son, who had gotten involved with the wrong crowd after his father died.
That conversation was life-altering, said Mr. Gaughan, who left police work for a career in firefighting. Now a speaker with the national nonprofit Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, he advocates for decriminalization and regulation of controlled substances in the United States.
"Arresting a dealer doesn't solve any problems at all," he said. "In fact, it exacerbates problems.”
Game of whack-a-mole
He believes the theory that "going after dealers will mean less drugs" is misguided, comparing it to a game of whack-a-mole -- "You arrest one guy and three more pop up.”
Mr. Gaughan said there's an endless supply of drug dealers to replace ones who are arrested, and that can lead to turf wars and gang violence.
He supports reform of the criminal justice system, saying more resources should be allocated for drug treatment and social support on the front end to reduce demand and curb drug-related criminal behavior.
“We spend an awful lot of money in jailing people. We don't spend nearly as much money treating them,” said Mary Engholm, executive director of the Rock Island County Council on Addictions.
Overcrowding and lack of local treatment providers has led to lengthy wait times for treatment and limited long-term case management, she said.
That's created a “different class of criminal,” including users -- some homeless and without proper help -- who commit petty crimes and cycle in and out of the courts like a "revolving door," Ms. Engholm said.
More people have been able to access treatment since the Affordable Care Act was passed, but RICCA's long-term residential facility remains filled to its 34-bed capacity, she said.
Naloxone for overdoses
In Iowa, activists are seeking to pass a Good Samaritan law similar to ones passed in Illinois and 19 other states that allow people to report an emergency overdose without fear of being arrested.
"It could save lives," said Kim Brown, of Davenport, co-founder of the QC Overdose Awareness Walk, an annual event that started last year. The bill would allow over-the-counter purchase of Naloxone, a drug carried by paramedics that can reverse opiate overdoses, she said.
According to the Trust for American Health, a national group concerned about a prescription drug “epidemic,” from 1999 through 2013, the number of drug overdose deaths quadrupled in Iowa and increased by 49 percent in Illinois.
Ms. Brown, whose 33-year-old son Andy died from an overdose in May 2011, believes those numbers could be reduced if Naloxone were more readily available.
She said her son was a fun-loving man who played football and loved his two sons. She doesn't know when his addiction began, but she speculated it may have been after he was prescribed opiates following a surgical procedure.
No one wants to be an addict
“Nobody's born saying they want to grow up to become an addict.” Ms. Brown said, adding that addicts often are “stigmatized and shamed” rather than treated. “We've got to find a better way.”
Mr. Gaughan points to places such as Portugal, where drug use was decriminalized in 2001, and Switzerland, which offers heroin addicts access to clinics with clean needles and pure heroin as part of drug treatment services, as examples to emulate.
“Putting someone in a cage doesn't solve the problem at all,” he said.
Mr. Winslow said he realizes "we're not going to arrest our way out of this."
He recommends a coordinated effort by local police, courts and treatment centers to identify and treat the source of addiction for users, while halting those who profit from heroin distribution.
You accused me of "pimping" - a pimp is motivated by profit.
” In Singapore which was historically the shipping point for most of the world’s opium they have an answer. If you sell drugs and are convicted they hang you (right now!).”
Malaysia and a number of other places do this. It works. THIS is a REAL war on drugs.
The War on (Some) Drugs has worked so well up to this point....
So that's a vote for the United States of America to emulate a repressive regime. Me, I'll stick with our Founders' vision of limited government.
Just like the War on Poverty.
Our founding fathers never dealt with the scourge of narcotics, as you well know, you fraud!
You ARE promoting heroin. In your subtle disingenous way. And when confronted you always retort with your three question non answer. See post 32. It’s how you argued when you were Just Say No to Nannies. It’s how you argue now
Your whole reason here at FR to is promote dangerous drugs and cause strife and arguments with us FReepers. Scroll up to see how HiTech and Diana are fighting with each other.
Thanks a lot troll.
“So you think there are untold millions who are deterred by the chance of arrest and conviction, but absent that chance would not be deterred by the inherent dangers of the drug? Why should anyone believe that dubious claim? Are YOU such a person?”
You have a point as I still don’t smoke pot even though it has been essentially decriminalized in my state. Is there any data in Colorado as to whether pot use has increased or decreased in the last few years? Heroin has no medical use what so ever, I don’t ever see that drug being de-criminalized. I do know some heroin addicts personally including one friend who died from the drug. They didn’t start out taking heroin but got there by first abusing alcohol then pot and onto harder drugs and eventually to the cheap heroin. Their lives were just a slow suicide, one finally snapped out of it the other couldn’t.
“But heroin? You seriously wanna take a stab at arguing the benefits of legalizing heroin?”
Sure thing. Here’s the benefits:
The drug gangs no longer control the product. No more turf wars over heroin. Safeway and Costco fight over market share.
Purity goes up to pharma grade. Much more potent stuff kills addicts quicker.
Price goes down. No more robbing grandma for her money.
Reduced access to minors. It’s easier to get heroin than it is to get beer for kids these days.
Billions saved by ending the DEA.
4th and 5th Amendments restored to their former glory.
Corrupt cops have to find some other way to make side money.
Not much downside to it if you apply a bit of logic.
L
No it is not. The Graveyard is the answer. Ask Singapore.
And the health benefits to the user?
You forgot to mention those.
Suppose I thread hijack for a moment and ask for the benefits of child porn. I bet you could list 10-15 good reasons to legalize that in just 60 seconds.
And this is why it is so absolutely crucial to prevent them from ever getting exposed to drugs in the first place. Nobody starts out saying "I want to be a drug addict wreck." They just don't realize that is the all too common outcome of tampering with your brain chemistry.
They can't make an informed decision because it is impossible to inform them as to the likely consequences. Too many other people are steering them the other way.
Our founding fathers knew the nation would face new problems over the years - and they also knew that government is not the answer to most problems.
It is neither. Singapore solved it. We could solve it to if we made a point to vaporize dealers.
“And the health benefits to the user?”
No problem.
Pure product means no contaminants. Easier access through legal channels means more time to be productive instead of worrying about where the next high comes from.
Addicts would no longer have to deal with the violent criminal element to obtain the product. Just drop by Safeway, show ID, and head home.
Violent crime by drug gangs would drop. Far fewer 8 year old girls would catch bullets fired by gang members.
What’s your problem, you hate little girls or something?
L
It is not a repressive regime. The millions of Americans in jail for drug offenses is repression. If the government would just stop the dealers permanently there would be vastly fewer people in prison.
The drug world loves to start them young. They hook them and destroy their lives before they can even get started. All the inner city violence stems from this very drug trade. Dead dealers don’t deal any more!
This has essentially been done with methadone. It doesn’t kill as fast as heroin just turns people into zombies. The zombies still want the lethal stuff so they buy heroin from dealers to bring death more quickly. Nothing has changed and your solution won’t get rid of the heroin dealers.
Exactly. It's always some faceless 'other' who's allegedly champing at the bit to use drugs but is held back only by the chance of arrest and conviction.
Is there any data in Colorado as to whether pot use has increased or decreased in the last few years?
A more interesting question is whether there's been an increase in the unemployable pot addicts the pro-criminalization crowd is always screeching about.
You're so much wiser than us unwashed masses - please run our lives for us.
Is there any data in Colorado as to whether pot use has increased or decreased in the last few years?
A more interesting question is whether there’s been an increase in the unemployable pot addicts the pro-criminalization crowd is always screeching about.
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