Substance Abuse
The following are my notes from the Forum on Substance Abuse held by the Otero County New Mexico Chapter of PDA June 25th – Ken Nicholson
The Otero County chapter of Progressive Democrats of America hosted a panel discussion on the substance abuse situation in the county. Panel members Dr. Gil Heredia, physician and chair of the Otero Libertarian Party, Sharon Hodges of the New Mexico Department of Health, and Ken Larson, Certified Peer Specialist and Recovery Mentor presented a comprehensive survey of the drug problems we are facing in Otero County to an interested audience of local activists. Al Kissling of PDA NM was the moderator.
Dr. Heredia said that the so called “War on Drugs” was having a more devastating effect on our community than the actual use of drugs. He cited the emphasis of the drug war being on law enforcement and leading to incarceration rather than treatment and rehabilitation. When those caught in the system have finished their time, they are released back into the community, still addicted, without the root of their situation being addressed. Heredia noted the high cost of incarceration versus treatment. Also, drug crimes are crimes against oneself and not directly against the community. He said that if drugs were legal, market forces would pressure dealer profits, and the supply of drugs would dwindle. One community activist added that the prison industry has lobbied for mandatory minimum sentences to the benefit of the private prison industry while removing judges’ discretion.
Sharon Hodges added that part of our problem is our proximity to the Mexican border and that the “border war” was now spilling into Southern New Mexico, causing a variety of new problems such as drugs laced with other harmful chemicals. Hodges stated that even marijuana was being spiked and bore no resemblance to the relatively benign drug of the ’60s. She added that the present drug situation is wreaking havoc on affected families.
Ken Larson, who mentors at the Wright House and several other recovery facilities, agreed that drugs were now coming primarily out of Mexico. He noted that although local law enforcement agents have done an excellent job of seeking out and destroying meth labs in the county, meth amphetamine is coming in by the truck load from Mexico. Larson has talked with Border Patrol agents who said that “while one truck was being inspected, twenty other trucks had to be waived through.”
Larson estimated that there are between one thousand and two thousand addicts in Otero County who are not in treatment or incarcerated. Their ages range from 12 to 56 with the majority of addicts between 18 and 24 years of age.
The panel members agreed that we need the full spectrum of treatment options in Alamogordo, including a detoxification center to care for all the drug and alcohol addictions. The hospital is not equipped for this service and would be too expensive for the uninsured and under insured. As it is, most of the funding for detox and treatment services wind up north of I-40.
There is also a great need for comprehensive drug awareness education in the entire community starting with pre-schoolers on up to adults, many of whom are not aware that a problem even exists. The panelists were hopeful that more people would become more active, if they were made aware of the very real problems facing our community.
The Progressive Democrats of America are holding these discussions all over the state and the nation. Their purpose is to read the pulse of each community at the grass-roots level and to present all our elected officials with data unaffected by corporate spin in the hope that this will affect their behavior in office and also give the voting public issues that will incite them to vote.
