Public Awareness Key To Curbing Meth Use
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
Last of four parts.
Law enforcement officials and community groups in Kosciusko County are turning to public awareness of methamphetamines as a way to combat its use and manufacture.
"It's got to be a total package in the community," said Lt. Joe Mooney of the Kosciusko County Drug Task Force. "... What we've tried to do, and Sheriff Aaron Rovenstine has been the leader in this, is to take it to our own community now because Indiana does not have a statewide program. ... It's worked in other states that had real high numbers of methamphetamine arrests, but with the community working together, it's lowered them substantially."
A meth task force, comprising representatives from education, law enforcement, community leaders and the judiciary, has begun meeting monthly to discuss ways to educate area residents, especially teenagers, on the dangers of using meth. Also, they soon will begin talking to service clubs and other community organizations about the drug. Mooney and other members of the Drug Task Force now talk to groups as well.
It is a Class B felony in Indiana to manufacture, deliver or possess meth with the intent to sell. A Class B felony sentence may range from six to 20 years and carry a $10,000 fine.
If the amount made or sold is more than three grams or if the sale or delivery is to someone under age 18 or is within 1,000 feet of a school, school bus, public park or family housing center, the offense goes to a Class A felony with a sentence of 10 to 50 years.
More than half the current active probation cases are drug and alcohol cases, said Ron Babcock, chief probation officer for Kosciusko County.
"There are so many substance abuse cases that it is filling bed spaces in state and county jails," he said. "We're also getting people back who've served a lot of time in prison for meth," and he believes approximately half of the offenders re-offend.
"It's in the community, it's tempting, it's there, if they're going to go back to it, they will."
Kosciusko County Prosecutor Steve Hearn said he believes the best way to fight meth use is to arrest the people using meth.
"If you're looking at a long penalty, it raises the stakes too high and slows the process," he said. "We would rather get them off the street, get them locked up and get them rehab in the Department of Corrections. ... In my opinion, that's the most effective way to fight it."
Babcock said enforcement, along with community education, are important.
"It's going to take a community to battle this - education is an important step, it's not just enforcement," he said. "It's not going to get any better until the community decides this is a community problem."
Rovenstine, who has been training county officers since 1999 on what to look for in rural areas when dealing with meth labs, emphasized the importance of a community effort to eliminate the meth problem.
"In this community, with the values we have, I know we can succeed," he said. "We have to succeed." [[In-content Ad]]
Last of four parts.
Law enforcement officials and community groups in Kosciusko County are turning to public awareness of methamphetamines as a way to combat its use and manufacture.
"It's got to be a total package in the community," said Lt. Joe Mooney of the Kosciusko County Drug Task Force. "... What we've tried to do, and Sheriff Aaron Rovenstine has been the leader in this, is to take it to our own community now because Indiana does not have a statewide program. ... It's worked in other states that had real high numbers of methamphetamine arrests, but with the community working together, it's lowered them substantially."
A meth task force, comprising representatives from education, law enforcement, community leaders and the judiciary, has begun meeting monthly to discuss ways to educate area residents, especially teenagers, on the dangers of using meth. Also, they soon will begin talking to service clubs and other community organizations about the drug. Mooney and other members of the Drug Task Force now talk to groups as well.
It is a Class B felony in Indiana to manufacture, deliver or possess meth with the intent to sell. A Class B felony sentence may range from six to 20 years and carry a $10,000 fine.
If the amount made or sold is more than three grams or if the sale or delivery is to someone under age 18 or is within 1,000 feet of a school, school bus, public park or family housing center, the offense goes to a Class A felony with a sentence of 10 to 50 years.
More than half the current active probation cases are drug and alcohol cases, said Ron Babcock, chief probation officer for Kosciusko County.
"There are so many substance abuse cases that it is filling bed spaces in state and county jails," he said. "We're also getting people back who've served a lot of time in prison for meth," and he believes approximately half of the offenders re-offend.
"It's in the community, it's tempting, it's there, if they're going to go back to it, they will."
Kosciusko County Prosecutor Steve Hearn said he believes the best way to fight meth use is to arrest the people using meth.
"If you're looking at a long penalty, it raises the stakes too high and slows the process," he said. "We would rather get them off the street, get them locked up and get them rehab in the Department of Corrections. ... In my opinion, that's the most effective way to fight it."
Babcock said enforcement, along with community education, are important.
"It's going to take a community to battle this - education is an important step, it's not just enforcement," he said. "It's not going to get any better until the community decides this is a community problem."
Rovenstine, who has been training county officers since 1999 on what to look for in rural areas when dealing with meth labs, emphasized the importance of a community effort to eliminate the meth problem.
"In this community, with the values we have, I know we can succeed," he said. "We have to succeed." [[In-content Ad]]