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.
A sh*t I do not give as to the opinions of your pet "Authorities" as in FALLACY OF AUTHORITY.
Every one I have read so far remind me of those members of the American Psychiatry Association who removed homosexuality from the list of Mental disorders. Their logic went along the lines of "Because we cannot cure them, they must not be sick!"
That's your pet "Authorities" argument. "Because we cannot solve it, it must not be a problem."
No, the reason they cannot solve it is because the methods necessary for dealing with it are objectionable to a lot of Americans.
Dealers don't card - only in a legal regulated market can age restrictions be enforced.
No, that's your straw man - nobody's saying it's not be a problem.
What’s your problem, you hate little girls or something?
____________________________________________
I used to, but now I see the beauty of your arguments. Now I want ALL little girls to have the free and wonderful experience of using pure heroin.
Lets start with your children. They use only the best heroin, right? And you see to it they use a clean needle each time.
You’re such a good parent.
Well if we could wipe out all the drug pushers, then we could keep our own money, but it is those people who are constantly pushing drugs on us that are costing the money.
Till we get rid of them, we are going to have to keep paying the money to prevent them from hurting people by exposing them to drugs.
. The Denver Post reports the study by the National Survey on Drug Use and Health found about 1 out of 8 Colorado residents older than 12 had used marijuana in the past month. Only Rhode Island topped Colorado in the percentage of residents who reported using pot as often, according to the study.
The study averaged state-specific data over two-year periods. It found that, for the 2011-2012 period, 10.4 percent of Colorado residents 12 and older said they had used pot in the month before being surveyed. That number jumped to 12.7 percent in the 2012-2013 data. That means about 530,000 people in Colorado use marijuana at least once a month, according to the results. Nationally, about 7.4 percent of people 12 and older reported monthly marijuana use. That’s an increase of about 4 percent.
Nice to see you admit you’ve lost the argument.
Have a nice day, liberal.
L
Your solution to heroin has already been done by the state via methadone. It doesn’t work. The truth hurts.
The Drug Nazis want to blame drugs instead of the individual. Exactly like the Mooseslimes blame Women!
Chemicals that tamper directly with your brain chemistry do not allow for free will. Individuals have NO HOPE of understanding how dangerous they are.
Self responsibility is impossible with mind-altering substances. You might as well decide to try to stay awake while being anesthetized. It is simply impossible.
“Your solution to heroin has already been done by the state...”
Therein lies the problem.
While you’re at it please cite for me exactly where in Article 2, Section 8 the federal government is granted the specific, enumerated power to regulate what people put in their bodies.
Take your time. I’ll wait.
L
I for one, wish there was some way we could vote such people off the website. You are right, that is pretty much what he does. He is ALWAYS posting articles highlighting some favorable claim about drugs and drug usage.
Check out ole Jamil! Yup! Holder’s Person. Give him an Oscar, after all, he’s “disadvantaged.”
Will do, Mr. Conservative Dope-Pusher. Why, I'm off to the schools right now to push your heroin agenda on the little chill-rens.
So there are no drugs in Singspore?
Tell you what. You move yourself to Singapore and enjoy the full benefits of a police state.
The grownups will stay here and enjoy the limited, constitutional government our Founders gave to us.
Fair enough?
Don’t take any chewing gum with you. It’s illegal without a prescription in Singapore.
Enjoy your flight.
L
The two of us tried....your turn .
Please quote the favorable claim about drugs and drug usage in this article.
Hanging drug dealers is not repressive. It is what any sane and rational government would do. Putting up with drug dealers is repressive. It is why so many people live lives of misery. They just create victims.
Yep, classic liberal tactic. Can’t win the argument with reason or logic so the siren cry of “do it for the children” is invoked.
Mama Pelosi is so proud of you.
L
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.