Editor’s note: This is the third part in an ongoing series highlighting methamphetamine use in Brookings County.
BROOKINGS – Prosecuting meth users is often a long road, according to Abigail Howard.
Recently elected as Brookings County state’s attorney, Howard has been a prosecutor in the state’s attorney’s office for four years, and she’s noticed a trend.
The number of methamphetamine-related crimes has gone up.
“Narcotics has always been an issue that we’re battling here, and sometimes the narcotic of choice is what we see change. Sometimes there is a period of heroin ... a period of prescription pills, and right now, the prevalent narcotic of choice is definitely methamphetamine,” Howard said.
“Probably nine out of 10 cases that I get where someone has ingested a controlled substance – having taken some sort of illegal drug beside marijuana into their body – it’s been methamphetamine, and that is a significant change. Probably within the past couple of years, we’ve seen a steady increase,” Howard said.
Chronic problem
The problem starts long before Howard sees them in the courtroom.
“I think people would be surprised how many people you would cross paths with in a day who use or have used just to get by,” Howard said.
Her office is working harder than ever because of meth. She says meth has definitely caused an increased case load in Brookings County.
“The majority of the cases we get ... are people who have a pretty significant history where meth is really a drug that they work up to (from other drugs). Then once you’re on it, you’re on it,” Howard said.
She said her office has seen people from 19 or 20 years old all the way up to people in their 50s and 60s. Howard estimated that of her meth cases, about half involve people who have kids.
There are usually two kinds of people: dealers and users.
“The dealing and the trafficking we can nail down typically, we can get to those sources pretty quickly, but the users just seem to be continuing to come out of the woodwork,” Howard said.
“I think it’s a testament to how highly addictive it is. It is a highly, highly addicting drug, that’s something we’ve definitely come to see,” she said.
That addiction drives them to do things to either get the drugs or the money to buy the drugs, she said. Meth users’ behavior gets more risky, or desperate, and they’re willing to do just about anything to get the drug.
Many users are stealing to support their habit.
“Forgeries, we see that a lot. Obtaining money or obtaining property so they can get more money so they can purchase more drugs,” she said.
“There are some violent crimes that do occur, yes,” Howard said, adding that Brookings has not seen a lot of the serious crimes. “We have seen more of the property crimes ... definitely a handful of the robbery or assault.”
She mentioned the string of burglaries near Toronto last year, adding there were “definitely concerns that the individuals were under the influence of methamphetamine at the time those offences were committed. The goal was to obtain drugs and money. That would be an example of some of the violent crimes we see,” Howard said.
“Many of the violent or non-drug related felonies that we have seen recently also have some connection to methamphetamine. I think that has been a change from past cases. Many of those cases are influenced by the offender either being high at the time they committed it or needing to obtain more drugs and that leads up to the crime,” she said.
Stemming the tide
That strong of an addiction is what gets them into trouble.
“Most individuals run the gamut from starting out with alcohol or marijuana or tobacco and work their way up through some experimental drugs. And almost all of them are to the point where they are consistently using methamphetamine at the time they get in trouble,” Howard said.
“Law enforcement has done an excellent job of being able to locate those who are trafficking and distributing and obviously, we’re apprehending those who are using or committing crimes to use more,” Howard said.
Officials usually find out if a crime was meth-related either by discovering evidence during the investigation or by urine samples from the suspects.
“That will confirm whether someone was under the influence of methamphetamine at the time,” Howard said. “Oftentimes, they’re admitting, they’re acknowledging this addiction, this habit, is so powerful ‘I needed to do this, I needed more money. I needed property to pawn off so I could buy more drugs.’”
They are not the only ones who realize there’s a problem.
Sometimes suspects’ families are even contacting the state’s attorney’s office with concerns about the individual, saying they think a crime was drug-fueled.
The longer an addiction lasts, the worse it will be for a person.
“I think for many what we see, too, is it ends up being the end of the road for them criminally,” Howard said. “When we convict someone of a felony-level offense, the court looks at someone’s entire criminal history, a full background of that individual that also includes someone’s chemical dependency history, what their drug and alcohol usage has been like throughout their life.”
Starting again
Breaking an addiction is difficult, especially when it’s a meth addiction, but there is help, Howard said.
If a person is only charged with using meth, as opposed to a more serious charge, they will likely get probation and stay in the community. This worries Howard because she feels they are “still a risk to the community” especially when “they continue to use.”
For non-violent addicts, the emphasis is on trying to get them off the drug, but it’s difficult because meth users have a strong tendency to re-offend, Howard said.
“Once someone’s convicted once of unauthorized ingestion of meth, we’re most likely gonna see them again,” Howard said, adding, “It’s frustrating.”
If they’re not committed to getting off the drug, they’re using resources that could be of more use to those who are serious about getting clean, Howard said.
Getting addicts the help they need can be complicated not only because of the drug’s addictive qualities, but because of other factors, such as if they have children.
“We often have cases intersect, where you might have criminal charges pending against someone and at the same time, you have an abuse and neglect case with the Department of Social Services,” Howard said, noting addiction doesn’t just affect the addict, but everyone around them.
There are treatment facilities, and Howard is glad that Brookings County has Drug Court, which has options to help addicts that might not be available in the prison system.
“For me, the Drug Court in Brookings is a really inspiring aspect of our job. It’s not just for methamphetamine users, but it is a program that helps those who have been dealing with addiction for a number of years, try to get back on track,” Howard said. “I think most (addicts) would tell you the same thing: that if they had known where it would have got them, I don’t think they would’ve ever tried it the first time.”
Help from the community
Since most addicts are in pretty deeply before they’re arrested, Howard wants the community to know they can help before it gets that far to save the addicts, their families and the community a lot of grief.
“It’s just a reminder to be vigilant for those around you that you might have concerns about,” Howard said. “We have had cases where individuals have called in for welfare checks on people that they’ve just come across in the community with some concerning behavior and when law enforcement makes that contact, the individual is high on methamphetamine.”
The public can stop property crimes before they start by keeping cars and homes locked and be aware of your financial situation to prevent identity crimes.
“I don’t think it’s something where the public is in danger generally, but it’s something where we definitely have individuals amongst us that are using ... and putting that use ahead of everything else in their life,” she said.
Howard and her office will continue to work hard, but she knows it will take everyone working together to keep the community safe.
“Definitely the drug crimes are here. We’re working away and we’re catching as many as we can and helping as many as we can, but it’s not slowing down. That’s the scary thing,” she said.
Contact Jodelle Greiner at jgreiner@brookingsregister.com.
