The good news is that drug users or their families have started to seek treatment or help. Two groups, Nar-Anon and Narcotics Anonymous, were started last year. At the Cook Inlet Council for Alcohol and Drug Abuse, more people are getting into treatment, said Tess Dally, a CICADA mental health clinician in Homer.
“A lot more people are asking for help with meth and I/V drugs,” she said.
One disturbing trend is an increase in morphine use, primarily of pills prescribed for pain management that are ground up and injected. A man arrested last year for stealing tools from an Anchor Point airplane hangar, Jason Saunders, 27, of Anchor Point, told troopers he was high on morphine when he burglarized the hangar. Dally said she’s seen more people using morphine, too.
Anecdotal accounts that some young people smoked marijuana spiked with meth were confirmed recently when Brian Mctigue, 25, an associate of Saunders and arrested in November for check forgery, was found last month with marijuana laced with meth after police stopped the vehicle he was a passenger in. Troopers allege a bag of marijuana found near where Mctigue sat tested positive for meth.
“We kind of suspected that was going on until we got a piece of that and tested it,” said Trooper David Sherbahn of the Anchor Point Trooper Post. “Our suspicions were right.”
Dally said she has seen some clients using marijuana laced with meth, called “cocoa puffs” by drug users. Some children who say they would never use meth have used marijuana thinking it was just pot, only to find it had meth.
“They used meth and liked it without knowing it,” Dally said.
People are starting to understand that the dealers who get pot to kids are also getting them other drugs, too, Dally said. Some people discount the idea of marijuana as a gateway drug — less dangerous drugs that can lead to more serious drug use.
“It’s a gateway drug in ways we don’t even realize, such as this cocoa puff,” she said. “The bottom line is, you don’t know what you’re getting when you buy your pot. You don’t know what you’re getting when you buy those pills.”
Janet Mullen, a Homer woman whose son is in drug treatment for meth use, is one of the people trying to get a drug-detection dog on the lower peninsula. At a community meeting last April, she got pledges to help fund a K-9 officer in the area, either with police or troopers.
The troopers use what are called dual-purpose dogs, trained to do drug detection as well as suspect apprehension. E Detachment’s K-9 trooper, Kazan, retired last spring. There are five K-9 troopers in Alaska. Mullen said she’s still working on the idea and ready to resubmit a proposal to the troopers. In her latest discussion with Col. Julia Grimes, the statewide commander of the troopers, she said Grimes told her the troopers’ priority was to get another K-9 trooper in Kenai to work with the peninsula’s drug investigation unit.
“It’s kind of up in the air right now,” Sherbahn said of a local K-9 trooper. “The community in Anchor Point and folks in this area are pushing for it.”
A Narcotics Anonymous chapter started by recovering addict Robin L. Daugherty has become more active. The group meets at 6 p.m. Wednesdays at The Studio on Bunnell Avenue. Daugherty said she almost became discouraged and gave up on the group, but about two months ago people started showing up.
“They’re coming, so I’ve got a coffee pot,” she said. “We’re down there talking recovery.”
Based on the 12-step principles of Alcoholics Anonymous, the local chapter is an open group — open to people seeking recovery from drug problems or who know people with drug addictions.
Nar-Anon, a group for people who are friends or family of drug addicts, hasn’t been as successful, said Pam Breckenridge. Nar-Anon meets at 6 p.m. Thursdays at Christian Community Church. Breckenridge has a daughter who was a drug addict and started the group to help other people who struggle with the same problem.
“I felt really strongly that this is something I needed to do,” she said. “I really hope that out there are people who need some reinforcement or help.”
Even though not many people show up, Breckenridge meets every week and encourages people to come to the meetings.
Daugherty hopes Narcotics Anonymous can be regular enough judges can rely on it as part of a defendant’s sentence for drug-related crimes.
“It would be nice if we establish this to the point where the court system could depend on it,” she said.
Dally said she’s seen a shift in community attitude.
“I just think this community has gotten to a point where they’re not going to tolerate people exploiting their children,” she said.
More people are calling CICADA asking for help for their children or family with drug problems — even children asking what they can do for their parents, Dally said.
“People are more aware of it, and they’re more aware of it being a problem,” she said.
That’s what Mullen said she’s going to keep doing.
“I’m just trying to keep people not closing their eyes to the activity going on,” she said.
For information about CICADA, call 235-8001. Call Breckenridge with Nar-Anon at 235-3698 and Daugherty with Narcotics Anonymous at 399-3013.
Michael Armstrong can be reached at michael.armstrong@homernews.com.
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