As an inmate of Rockville Correctional Facility, I have a very strong opinion about the recent comments made in a recent letter about meth.
First of all, I am a recovering meth/heroin addict and have lost many family members to addiction, including my mother and aunt. I have been on both sides of this fence. I never did drugs until I was 26, and had never been arrested. And had very negative opinions of those who had.
I really want to say that in the last 15 months of my incarceration between here and Kosciusko County, I have met some of the best people in my life and have learned how to see both sides of every story because everyone instinctively judges people. It's very easy to see how many others contribute to a problem but we don't, or in Mr. Eppenbaugh's words "What they do doesn't bother me."
Well, sir, maybe meth has not directly effected, you but I'm sure you pay taxes. And maybe you failed to realize that your tax dollars are currently being spent to house, feed, cloth and educate the ever-increasing number of meth addicts in Indiana. If we as a society could find a way to get this problem under control and find a better solution, maybe the extra tax money could be used to better educate our children.
Which may I add that children are steadily becoming orphans, and because of the economy foster homes are hard to find. All because their parents are locked up for 20 or more years for meth. And I think it wouldn't be wrong to say that when you're making meth in a home full of innocent kids your individual liberty is "almost" extinct.
Have you ever seen a child who was burnt by the chemicals in meth? I have. Have you seen a loved one slowly die from this terrible addiction? I have. Have you seen mothers, sisters, daughters, etc. walk through the doors of a prison by the hundreds on a daily basis carrying a bag full of sadness, anger and resentment for a life ruined by meth? I have.
And may I inform you that meth addiction has no stereotype. We are losing very valuable people in our communities to this. I know personally in my prison dorm a nurse, a funeral home director and an ex-police officer currently incarcerated for meth.
In closing, I just want to say, sir, I'm in no way criticizing you. My only intent is to help you and others realize that this is a huge problem, and to hopefully give you some insight on how meth directly or in directly effects people. And their "liberty or property" because side streets, parks and abandoned houses, lakes, rivers etc. are a common dumping ground for meth trash. I hope that you come to some sort of realization of this issue, and join me in praying for all the addicts and broken homes due to meth. And maybe you'll never see how big this problem is and it may never effect you as harshly as it has others, but please believe me when I say there's a lot of broken, dying and lost people right here in our community as a result of meth. So let's pray that our community can regain some hope that there can be for a life after meth. Thank you for reading this.
Jessica Conley-Gillman,
Rockville Correctional Facility
Editor's Note: This letter was edited to conform more closely to the 500-word limit stated in our "Letters Policy."
