By Angela Hatton
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wkms/local-wkms-969179.mp3
Murray, KY – In Kentucky Police busted a record number of meth labs last year. The people arrested in those some 1000 busts either go to jail, or go into treatment. Since 2005, more meth addicts have gone into treatment. That was when the state passed the Recovery Kentucky Act, which opened up 500 free spaces for those wanting to go into rehab programs. In the latest installment in an occasional series, Angela Hatton reports on meth addiction and the recovery process.
J. D. was in his early twenties when he started using meth. J.D. is not his real name, but it's what we'll call him here. He was at work and some of his co-workers offered him the drug.
"They said, y'know, you want to try some of this? And uh, of course, I said sure. And, I guess the first time I done it I said, that's, y'know, that's something I want to do every day for the rest of my life. Uh, it was just such a good feeling. It made me feel stronger, and faster, and tougher."
J. D. says he used meth for over eight years, balancing his drug habit with his work schedule as best he could. He says he got pretty good at keeping a low profile by going out of town to buy ingredients and cooking meth at different locations to lower suspicion. J.D. says inevitably the longer he used, the more he had to take to stay high.
"And slowly, the drug just consumed more and more of my life. Gettin' it, makin' it, doin' it. To stay high it just about become a 24-hour deal."
It was that drive for more that finally got J. D. busted. He had been buying pseudoephedrine, a key meth ingredient, online. The DEA tracked the sales back to him, and turned his information over to the Kentucky State Police. The KSP served a warrant for J. D.'s arrest. Instead of going to jail, a judge diverted him to Calloway County's Drug Court.
"We're kind of considered an alternative sentencing."
Kentucky Drug Court Manager Connie Neal says it's a state-funded program for low-level offenders, that's seen more 12,000 participants since its inception in 1996. Participants take counseling and drug tests for close to two years, while holding down a job and living on their own. Neal says when offenders go into drug court, they mark their drug of choice on an intake form.
"And when you look at the very long list of possible drugs of choice right now. I think we've got about, oh, 91, on our list. Methamphetamine is number six."
Calloway and Marshall County Drug Court Director Jeanie Carson says meth isn't number one in her area, but it's among the drug addictions she sees. She says it's also one of the more treatable because brain functions aren't as affected by meth as they are with opiates or cocaine.
"Research tells us that within a two year period, the brain will heal as much as it probably will. I have noticed, though, that some of the folks that we've had for a little bit longer than two years, they continue to regain their memory and that kind of thing, so I don't know that we really know the parameters of meth use as far as the brain."
Experts say withdrawal from methamphetamine is similar to withdrawal from other drugs. It takes about 3 to 5 days to get over the symptoms. J. D. had a relatively easy time withdrawing.
"It kind of threw my balance off for a few days. My vision and stuff was off for a few days. But the biggest thing was the sleep deprivation. It was, I mean, I would work and a go home and sleep. And I'd done that, and that was all I'd done for probably a year, y'know? And it was a struggle to get through eight hours of work, just to go home and just sleep."
About a third of participants graduate from drug court. The others fail too many drug tests, or commit other crimes, and go into the prison system. Carson says while she believes in the drug court model, she sees addiction as a chronic disease. J. D. says when he graduated from drug court, he was clean.
"But recovery was something that was kind of hard to grasp. They say you'll know it when you get it, and I kept thinking, I don't know what it is.' Y'know, and I wasn't really sure at the time that I wanted to be clean. So . . . I graduated that program and ended up getting high again about three months, yeah, three months later."
J. D. says the judge gave him a second chance, and ordered him to go to rehab. J. D. found a men's rehab center in rural Tennessee. He spent six months there, where he says he found spiritual help.
"I had to get humble . . . and, y'know, let myself basically be broken, and just let God put me back together . . . how he wanted me."
J.D. has been clean close to two years. He's gotten a job, a place to live, and he's spending more time with his children, all things he lost when he was on meth.