JULY 20 Chp 69 v 20 TWELVE STEPPING WIT STRENGTH FROM THE PSALMS

Their insults have broken my heart , and I am in despair .If only one person would show some pity ;

if only one would turn and comfort me .

Step 1 - We admitted we were powerless over our addiction - that our lives had become unmanageable.

Fear , anger , and insecurity were the roots of my addiction . Let me try and explain ! First of all the verse from the Psalm is where I found myself .Thirty years of my life were spent in a dungeon of despair ! My childhood was developed by negative words and sexual abuse delivered to me by an older cousin . From the age of ten the seeds of anger and fear were planted and the icing on my cake of life was the constant fear of failure . The fear of failure came from the constantly being told I was going to fail , so my mindset became why try , I'm a screw-up ! Paralyzed is how I spent most of my young life . Then I discovered Alcohol and now I don't have to be afraid anymore . Alcohol mixed with pills was my new me , and no one was gonna make me afraid anymore , I can do anything and not worry about failure because my homemade medicine helped me not give a crap . As time went on living this way I became weighed down with guilt , regret , resentment and disgust . Who the hell am I and what have I become . I could go on for hours trying to describe my own personal private hell ! In my dungeon of despair way back in the corner I noticed a shadow as I moved closer to it , I noticed a set of steps and at the top of the steps the sun is shining . Now all I have to do is silence all the negative voices in my head and lift my leg and take that first step. As I began to use those steps I discovered that my chains began to fall off ! By Gods grace and those Steps I am free , unafraid , living my life to the max !

JAMES 3 ; 8 - But the tongue can no man tame; [it is] an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.

By Joseph Dickerson

Joey’s Story

Joseph Michael Lavin was born on August 26, 1986 in Newton, among the rolling hills of Sussex County, New Jersey. He spent his entire childhood in Wantage, N.J. and was one of six children, second to the youngest. He suffered from clinical depression from the tender age of 8 years old. He was on medication when he entered high school but it did not eliminate all of his symptoms. Joe was about 16 when he took his first drink and he discovered that alcohol did eliminate all symptoms of depression. He had said he was hooked the first time he drank because he finally felt happy and it had given him the ability to be himself. It wasn’t until his addiction took hold did he realize the price he would pay for those artificial moments of temporary relief. Joe attended Pope John XXIII Regional High School in Sparta NJ for almost three years of his high school education. He transferred to High Point Regional in Wantage when his addiction to alcohol became evident. He was 17 years old when alcoholism became his second diagnosis.

Joe was unusual in that he always wanted help and was willing to accept any treatment recommended to him. He attended a program at Sunrise House in Lafayette when he was a senior at High Point High School. Joe was always grateful for that experience as he learned so much about himself, his depression and its effect on his childhood and his feelings of loneliness and isolation. Due to his depression, Joe did not feel the love of his family or his friends past the age of the onset of the disorder. His experience at Sunrise House changed that for him and he ultimately formed very close relationships with each member of his family.

For nearly seven years, Joey valiantly fought this disease with every fiber of his being. In September of 2008, he was in a car accident that made him realize he had to leave Sussex County if he wanted to remain sober. In early October, he admitted himself to Sunrise House for the second time in 4 years. After completing the 28 days, Joey moved to Boca Raton, Florida to start a new life, a sober life. He secured a position at Fedex Office in Boca Raton, acquired his own apartment and discovered the love of his life, all in his first year. Joe managed to stay sober for the majority of that first year in Florida. He began to relapse in November of 2009. To complicate his addiction further, Joe would take any drug available once he was under the influence of alcohol. He had lost all impulse control once alcohol was in his system.

On March 19, 2010 Joe entered a rehab in Deerfield Beach, Florida. His stay lasted 40 days. When he was informed that he would be discharged on April 26th, Joey was panic-stricken. He did not feel that he was ready to be on his own yet and requested a little more time. That time was not afforded to him as his insurance company would not cover any further in-patient care. Joey was discharged and dropped back at his apartment on the evening of April 26, 2010. By 9 pm on April 27th, Joe had relapsed. He called home the following day requesting advice. As advised, he returned to the rehab seeking assistance. Joe was still extremely intoxicated when he arrived at the rehab center. He was transported to a detox center as his alcohol level was so very high. That evening, he was dropped back home to his apartment. On April 29th, Joe called the rehab and asked if he could sign himself into the 6 month in-patient program. He was willing to give up his job, his apartment, anything to get well. Sadly, he was turned away due to lack of insurance coverage. Joseph Michael Lavin passed away 64 days later on July 2, 2010. The cause of death was determined to be acute alcohol intoxication coupled with the interaction of the consumption of oxycodone tablets. No one wanted help more than Joe yet he was denied the help and care he so desperately needed. Joey’s story is a compelling one that needs to be told in order to effect change for so many others like him!

Joe’s life was abruptly cut short but he led a substantive one. All who truly knew Joe would attest to his character. He was the personification of integrity, honesty, and loyalty. He possessed a phenomenal work ethic. His family was awed by the response to Joe’s passing by all who loved him here in New Jersey. If you were fortunate enough to be his friend, you knew you had found a “true” one.

Joey was not a saint. He was a flawed individual as we all are but he left a positive impact on so many people in his 23 years of life. He is loved and missed by hundreds who knew him. Joe was known for his passion for life, his giant heart, his warm sense of humor, and his contagious laughter. Above all, he was a loyal friend, hard worker, and a young man who loved and cherished his family.

Addiction is a very treatable disease and every person who seeks to be well, deserves the opportunity to obtain treatment.

http://www.joeylavinfoundation.org/

The Joey Lavin Foundation | for the Afflicted with Addiction

www.joeylavinfoundation.org

Drug Testing and Racial Profiling

Check out the stats below: whites significantly trump blacks in all drug use except crack. So why do so many employers assume that black job applicants are drug users?

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By Cameron Turner

07/14/14

“We believe that all men are entitled to the blessings of liberty. But millions are being deprived of those blessings, not because of their own failures but because of the color of their skin… But it cannot continue. Our Constitution, the foundation of our Republic, forbids it. The principles of our freedom forbid it. Morality forbids it. And the law I will sign tonight forbids it.”

This influential segment of white American society accuses us of whining, even as they ignore evidence of continued racial stereotyping.

With that bold statement, President Lyndon Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act into law on July 2, 1964. That milestone legislation took a sledge hammer to the legal pillars of segregation by banning discrimination on the basis of race, religion, national origin and gender. But, as we have seen in the half century since, it takes more than Congressional votes and the stroke of a President’s pen to scratch out the racist attitudes which have been part of our American culture since colonial times. 

While enormous progress has been made in the area of racial justice, old stereotypes endure. Assumptions of intellectual inferiority, laziness, moral laxity, and criminality continue to haunt African-Americans, especially African-American men. The stubborn resilience of such perceptions shores up the disparities in opportunity and quality of life that remain between black and white Americans. 

So, it isn’t surprising that employers who require drug screening for potential hires often assume that black job applicants are drug users. Is this fact insulting? Yes. Infuriating? Yes. Surprising? No. It is just another example of the bias that black Americans have struggled against throughout our nation’s history, and which still hobbles our progress in the post-Civil Rights era. One major example: Although African America make up only 14% of the drug using population, 37% of Americans incarcerated for drugs are African American, put there by a law enforcement and criminal justice system that is clearly biased in its targeting of blacks and in its conviction rate. Overall, one in three African American males end up in jail at some point in their lives.

As The Fix reported in May, research out of Notre Dame University reveals that African-American job seekers are also hampered by drug-related stereotypes. In her report, “Discrimination and The Effects of Drug Testing on Black Employment,” Notre Dame associate economics professor Abigail K. Wozniak states, “In a survey of hiring managers, there is a belief that Blacks are more likely to fail a drug test…They also cite a 1989 survey in which 95% of [hiring survey] respondents described the typical drug user as Black.”

The assumption that black job seekers are more likely than their white counterparts to be drug abusers mirrors a broader societal impression reinforced by the fact that young blacks are arrested for drug crimes at higher rates than whites. But multiple studies have shown that drug use and dependency are actually less prevalent among African-Americans than among whites.

According to a 2011 survey by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, more whites have used various drugs—including marijuana, cocaine, stimulants (such as methamphetamine), prescription painkillers and alcohol—than blacks. Crack is the only drug that is used by more African-Americans than whites. The percentages of blacks and whites who have used drugs break down this way:

Substance African/American White

Marijuana 40.4 56.3

Cocaine 9.9 17.7

Stimulants 2.1 9.1

Painkillers 10.6 15.2

Alcohol 75.0 87.1

Crack 5.0 3.4

Statistics on drug abuse and dependency also tilt toward whites. In 2011, researchers at Duke University analyzed data on youth drug use contained in the National Survey on Drug Use and Health.They concluded that 9% of young whites who took drugs were abusers or addicts. For young blacks the number was 5%—almost half of the white number. Dr. Dan Blazer, who led the Duke research team, told TIME magazine, “There’s a perception among many individuals that African Americans as a group—regardless of socioeconomic status—tend to abuse or use drugs at higher rates and this (does not support) that.” 

Ironically, drug testing actually benefits black job applicants by revealing that most are not drug users. Wozniak writes that in states where drug screening is required for certain jobs, “Adoption of pro-testing legislation increases black employment in the testing sector by seven to 30% and relative wages by 1.4 to 13%, with the largest shifts among low skilled black men." However, in states where testing is not done, black applicants lose out to white women. “Results further suggest that employers substitute white women for blacks in the absence of testing.” Wozniak concludes. 

Hearing that, one may be tempted to say that a solution to employment discrimination is to mandate more drug testing. That way, black job applicants could prove that they aren’t drug users and thereby increase their chances of being hired. Everybody wins, right? Wrong. African-Americans would lose in the long run because such an approach would validate the racist perceptions that force us to justify ourselves when we haven’t done anything that could reasonably spark suspicion. Such perceptions are dangerous because they don’t merely make it difficult for blacks to get jobs, they can literally put our lives at risk. 

Before the altercation that left 17-year-old Trayvon Martin dead, George Zimmerman made up his mind that the black high-schooler was dangerous. That’s why he called 911 and said, “This guy looks like he's up to no good, or he's on drugs or something.” But Zimmerman’s own description of Martin’s actions reveals that the teen hadn’t done anything threatening. “It's raining and he's just walking around, looking about,” Zimmerman told the emergency dispatcher. Later he said that Martin “was just staring” and “looking at all the houses.” 

Since when does walking around and looking at houses constitute drug-induced, potentially criminal behavior that requires an urgent call to the cops? It doesn’t. 

Unless the guy doing all that walking and looking is a black male—especially a young black male—who has the temerity to wear a hooded sweatshirt on a rainy night. All of that adds up to probable cause to someone whose mind is polluted by racist stereotypes. 

Another reason that expanding drug testing is a poor response to job discrimination is the fact that perceived drug use is only one stereotype held against African-American would-be employees. The mere fact of our blackness is the basis for some of the strongest (but most difficult to prove) objections by some hiring managers. 

In 2003, the National Bureau of Economic Research (the same group that published the Wozniak report) concluded that job applicants with African-American-sounding names had a much harder time landing job interviews than applicants whose names sounded white. The report, which was titled “Are Emily and Greg More Employable than Lakisha and Jamal?” found that “Job applicants with white names needed to send about 10 resumes to get one callback; those with African-American names needed to send around 15 resumes to get one callback.” The rejections were even higher for resumes that combined ethnic-skewing names with ZIP codes of low income neighborhoods. 

Black Americans have neither the means nor the responsibility to eradicate racism in the U.S. And we certainly don’t need to prove that we are worthy of equality by showing that we are respectable, law abiding, productive and patriotic citizens who have always made substantial and important contributions to the nation. These facts are obvious to anyone who views history and current events with unbiased eyes. 

Uprooting the racism which has brought misery to black and other Americans of color is a white responsibility. Happily, there have been (and continue to be) countless white men and women who have labored, suffered and died in pursuit of racial justice. And our nation has made breathtaking strides since the bad old days when segregation and discrimination were maintained by custom and enforced by law. But far too many American whites continue to respond with indifference, impatience or hostility toward the pleas by blacks and other minorities for fairness and equality. This influential segment of white American society accuses us of whining, even as they ignore evidence of continued racial stereotyping, profiling and discriminatory treatment. 

Remember when black Harvard professor Dr. Henry Louis Gates was arrested in 2009 by a white police officer for supposedly disturbing the peace on the porch of his own house? Law enforcement professionals across the country publicly criticized the cop for a bad arrest and the local district attorney refused to file charges. But when President Obama said that the officer acted “stupidly” he was pilloried by right wing opinion leaders. Rush Limbaugh called it a case of “a black president trying to destroy a white policeman." Glenn Beck said Mr. Obama had “a deep-seated hatred for white people or the white culture.” Even after he tried to make peace by inviting Dr. Gates and the arresting officer to the White House for the informal “beer summit,” the President was still blasted as a supposedly divisive figure. The attacks were false, but they were indicative of the lengths to which some angry white Americans will go to deny that members their race might still be mistreating people of color because of color. 

Moments before he affixed his signature to the Voting Rights Act of 1964, President Johnson exhorted Americans to put racial animosity aside and unite to “bring justice and hope to all our people.” Johnson urged the nation: “Let us close the springs of racial poison. Let us pray for wise and understanding hearts. Let us lay aside irrelevant differences and make our Nation whole.” 

Although the America of 2014 is dramatically, and beautifully, different from the America of 1964, LBJ’s admonition still challenges our nation and the hearts of its people.

Cameron Turner is a writer based in Los Angeles. He last wrote about sobriety and hip hop and how our veterans are being destroyed by painkiller prescriptions.

37 Tons of David Victorson: A Tale of Ballsy Redemption

How a brash and colorful big time outlaw drug dealer addict who smuggled record-breaking amounts of marijuana became a brash outspoken popular healer of addicts and defender of AA. 

David Victorson

By Paul Krassner

07/14/14

“In a time of universal deceit,” George Orwell once said, “telling the truth is a revolutionary act.” That maxim certainly applies to David Victorson’s book, 37 Tons. Its title is the record-breaking amount of marijuana he smuggled on a freighter from Colombia to Seattle.

“I heard the door of my hotel room being smashed open,” his memoir begins. “As I jumped out of bed I was ordered to get to my knees. Six heavily armed Bolivian security police nervously stood over me. They handcuffed me, put a black cloth bag over my head, and shoved me down the hall to the elevator.”

Victorson stayed handcuffed to a bed in a prison cell for three months, waiting to be extradited to the U.S. where he would be sentenced to four concurrent five-year sentences. Over the ten-year period before his arrest, he earned around 30 million dollars. Victorson started selling pot at age 16 in Boston, and later smuggled hash and hash oil from Amsterdam, India, Nepal, and Pakistan. He also smuggled pot, cocaine, emeralds, and gold from Bolivia and Colombia. An outlaw who enjoyed taking on anything resembling the establishment, he once boasted to a friend of how he, as the friend put it, "brought to their knees" some Texas bankers who had been used in a money-laundering scheme involving a front "investment company" he ran in San Francisco. 

His prison sentences included 30 days at La Modello in Bogota, Colombia, three months at a military prison in La Paz, Bolivia, and four years at Lompoc Federal Prison in the U.S.

After being released from living behind bars, Victorson was assigned to a parole officer who warned him that he would not be allowed to drink any alcohol or consume any drugs, and although he intended to follow that rule, he soon surrendered to the temptation of booze and coke. 

On a Friday, his parole officer said, “You have given me six dirty drug tests.” Victorson responded, “I knew they were dirty. I have been high every day since I got out.” The parole officer gave him an ultimatum: either get into a drug treatment program by Monday or go back to prison for eight more years. He chose rehab, and it completely changed the life he had been so busy self-destructing.

Ultimately, he became a skillful drug counselor and for some years a rehab center owner himself, specializing in treating young addicts. For years he had sold drugs without thinking about any harm the drugs might cause to his customers, but now his career evolved into getting addicts off drugs. Over time he developed a considerable following as a rehab leader and then as a blunt and colorful speaker popular among some AA groups. A charismatic man, he drew some buzz about leading a cult. 

Victorson grew up in Dorchester, Massachusetts and currently lives in Washington, D.C. His life between those locations has been unique, and I was curious to know more.

How did you get your rehab career launched from nothing?

I started as a counselor and worked my way up to VP marketing. I was the most successful marketing guy out of 54 hospitals and had developed a loyal following who referred patients to the hospital I represented, making me a rainmaker of sorts, thus motivating the hospital board to want to keep me close. So they offered me the opportunity to run my own programs. After a few years I brought in a venture capital group that funded the acquisition of our own facilities. The company was sold in 2007 for $96 million. I of course had a visible criminal past and, being a recovering person, [was] never accepted in the inner circle. I was looked at as kind of a well-paid second-class citizen.

And yet, didn’t you also have a kind of cult following?

I don’t care for the image of a following. It reminds me of an elf in puffy green shorts playing a flute while skipping on goat-like legs. Who the fuck follows that character? I was written about quite extensively – from the Seattle Times to Playboy - with a slant toward being an outlaw and then again for being a businessman with a criminal past. I speak at a lot at AA meetings but I don’t consider my fellow addicts to be followers. I promote the smoking of pot quite openly even though I am an addict and don’t smoke any more. But I do love that bud.

Victorson, his dog Ainge and a custom smuggling boat with a Carey design hull and two 350LT1 twin stern engines. Top speed: 65 knots.

In what way were you a businessman?

From 1984 to 2006 I developed, owned, and operated a treatment program, Focus Healthcare, which treated over 25,000 chronic drug addicts and alcoholics. The admissions office served as a call center – located in San Juan Capistrano, connected with hospitals in Delaware, Florida, California, Georgia, and Ohio - staffed by recovering counselors, open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Over the years, we averaged more than 50,000 calls per month. Of the people calling in looking to get help, only half of one percent had the financial ability to get into any treatment program. This became a puzzle that was unsolvable. Focus Healthcare gave away a lot of free treatment but was in no way capable of handling the volume of addicts calling in who had no ability to pay for any treatment.

So, in fact, what happens to these people is that they get referred to AA, NA or other free 12-step organizations. I also spoke around the country to union memberships, including the Teamsters, CWA, UFCW, public school teachers, human resource directors, representatives for the Screen Actors Guild, professional and parent groups. I also worked as a consultant with Michael Keaton on the movie, Clean and Sober. Currently, I speak at various 12-step meetings in Washington D.C., halfway houses, and homeless shelters about my own recovery and the war on addiction that is not being fought.

Dude, I'm In Recovery!

A decade ago you couldn't get away from the "Dude, You're Getting a Dell" commercials. Then the pitchman got arrested. Now he's sober. And doing The Fix Q&A.

By Dillon Murphy

07/18/14

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Ben Curtis is an actor best known for the Dell Computer commercials that dominated network television in the early 2000’s. “Dude, you’re getting a Dell” was the mantra of college kids all over the world and his character, Steven, was the reason why. Recently, Curtis sat down with The Fix, inviting us to the Washington Heights apartment he shares with three roommates, to talk about his very public arrest, his long, slow journey to recovery, and how he recently taught Richard Chamberlain how to smoke a bong.

How old were you when you booked the Dell ad?

I was 19 or 20. I filmed my first commercial for them when I just turned 20. I was a sophomore in college. They seemed to be looking for someone younger. Like 12 to 15. I was the oldest one by far. So, I was 19 or 20 playing what was supposed to be a young, awkward teenager. I do remember that I was the only one at the audition without his mom.

This was post Spicoli and pre Dude, Where’s My Car?

Yeah. I remember the first note I got was “Less Spicoli, more kid next door.” It was the first time, I believe, they used an actor and it was Dell's first national commercial. Before that they had only done graphics and voice overs. They wanted to appeal to their customer base which, apparently, was the kid next door. So I just did my interpretation of the script which was a kid that was totally trying to win over his parents. I was very good at manipulating my parents. It wasn’t until the fourth ad that I actually said the “dude” thing.

Once the cops figured out I was the guy in the ad it was “Dude, sucks for you!”

I remember they weren’t happy with the script. The tag line was “mission accomplished” and they didn’t like it so they all went back to the ad agency. Finally, the director told me to try saying “Dude you’re getting a Dell” and I was thinking “Are you kidding me? That’s even worse. That is so generic…“ So, I said it mockingly and, of course, they were like “We love it!” That became the slogan. Oh, and he was not supposed to be a stoner, he was just supposed to be quirky. I don’t know if it’s because I was a stoner or what but it became completely associated with stoners. They had no idea how it was going to take off.

Wasn't there a well-known director involved in those ads?

Yes! Bennett Miller directed that fourth ad where I first said "Dude." Bennett of course went on to the direct Capote with the late great Phil Hoffman.

So then you got arrested? While you were doing that campaign?

Yes. I was about to sign a half million dollar contract with them. I was not making nearly as much as I should have been. It was my best friend’s birthday. I was dating a girl from England but we met in Scotland where we had all just been for the Edinburgh festival. I borrowed a kilt and my best friend and I decided to wear kilts on his birthday. Proper Scottish style so no underwear. And for my buddy’s birthday, I wanted to get him some pot so I called the delivery service, as you do in New York, but the main one couldn’t come through so I called another one that uses bicycles and meets you outside. It was on Ludlow and Rivington. Which is now Schiller’s but then it was Motor City Bar. I looked around for cops, there were none, only taxis. Lo and behold those taxi drivers were undercover and I was arrested for buying an eighth of weed. I was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

You lost the Dell campaign because of that arrest?

Yes.

Was that your bottom?

Well, yes, that was part of it, but I think my bottom was before that. I just lived through 9/11 and I lived two blocks from Ground Zero. I watched the whole thing go down and I was trapped underground for a little while … I had a near death experience that day. I had severe PTSD which I didn’t know for a long time. I was already starting to self-medicate with pot, cocaine, alcohol … and I was at the height of the Dell fame. I was up for some great movies and I was freaking out. I was afraid of fame. And I was very young. Everywhere I went people were like “Dude, where’s your computer!” I didn’t handle it well. I wanted to be taken seriously. Now I see that people needed relief and entertainment at that time. I just hid from everyone. Once the cops figured out I was the guy in the ad on the night of my first arrest it was “Dude, sucks for you!”

Honestly, though, getting arrested saved my life. It took me a while to get the help I needed but things started to calm down after that. I was not happy for a long time after I lost that job. I couldn’t go anywhere without being recognized. I waited tables and all my customers would say was, “Dude, say the line! Dude, why are you waiting tables?” Because I don’t have a fucking acting job right now! Otherwise I wouldn’t fucking be here. Do you want salt on your margarita or not, sir? (Laughs) I had to hit a few more bottoms.

How long did it take you to find a way out of your addictions?

About nine years, three more arrests and a DUI. I had many girlfriends (all of whom were daughters of alcoholics) suggest that I get into recovery. My last girlfriend, who was very supportive, suggested MA. I definitely was addicted to pot. Some people say it’s not addictive but I have an addictive personality. I can be addicted to anything. I tried to stop and I just couldn’t. I had all sorts of signs that I was an addict during those nine years. Arrests, girlfriends … I even had this old man come up to me at a wedding for the cowboy from the Village People. He told me that he knew who I was and that he had a lot of money and was willing to invest financially in anything I did, but that I wasn’t going to go anywhere until I quit doing drugs and alcohol. I wasn’t even drunk. I wasn’t even stoned. It was a sign, one of many that I needed to clean up.

The future you!

I hope not. He was kind of creepy.

How did you clean up?

Well, meetings help. But I needed a lot more.

Like what?

Putting down the pot to see that I had an alcohol problem. Putting down the alcohol to see that I have a lot of other problems that were being masked by using. It’s been a long road. That was about two years ago. I have a lot of support. There’s all kinds of support all over the world.

Are you still acting?

I am, I’m shooting a movie in Atlanta soon. I produce a lot of my own work. I do voice over work. Off Broadway plays. I did a movie recently with Richard Chamberlain and he forgot how to smoke a bong. He was playing this crazy Willie Nelson type guy and he either forgot or didn’t know how. So, I filled it with tobacco and he was one of my best students ever. He laughed and did exactly as I told him. Good thing it was tobacco because he took an enormous hit!

Do you find it harder to stay clean on location?

No. Like I said I have a lot of support. My father is a retired Episcopal priest and he has been in recovery for a long time. My mother is also. A lot of people in my life are. I feel really well taken care of and it’s just about remembering that and why I’m there. Whenever I catch myself wanting to use I just ask myself what’s going on and most of the time it’s because I’m feeling something I don’t want to feel. Or I’m tired or hungry or lonely so I just take care of those things the way I need to.

So life is good now?

Life is better than ever. I have more energy and more clarity and more peace of mind. It’s not easy to abstain but there is a lot of support out there. I’m still acting. I’m writing a play about my experiences in jail. I co-own and operate a wellness company. It’s called Soul Fit NYC. We’re trying to help other people live their dreams.

Anything else?

Yeah, reach out and don’t be afraid to ask for help.

Dillon Murphy is the pseudonym of a regular contributor to The Fix. He typed this up on a Dell. He last wrote about quitting suboxone.

Houses of Meth: Is There One Coming to Your Neighborhood?

How public attitudes, Big Pharma and medical insurers all contribute to the continuing rise of meth-labs

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By A.J. Dugger III

07/15/14

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Nearly every day in America, a meth lab is raided. Lonnie Dawson of Louisville, Kentucky will never forget the images of his neighbors being dragged out of their house screaming as they were arrested for cooking meth. Dawson referred to his former neighbors' house as a “shake and bake” lab, noting that they would sometimes create small batches of meth by mixing over-the-counter decongestant pseudoephedrine found in many cold remedies with some other substances, and with the aid of plastic two-liter soft drink bottles. “I figured something like that was going on over there. The windows were almost always open, even in January when it snowed. Something was really off with those damn people,” said Dawson.

“This is scary to me,” said Dawson. “Just imagine if folks who do coke (cocaine) or heroin knew how to cook up the recipe themselves? That's what so damn scary about this meth situation. The addicts know how to set up shop and create it on their own. The stuff they need is sold right over the counter.”

Police officers nationwide have ranked methamphetamine as the number one drug they confront on a regular basis, even more so than heroin, marijuana and cocaine. The addictive and destructive to mind and body dangers of methamphetamine have given rise to numerous solution attempts around the country.

Methamphetamine (or meth) is known for being highly addictive and longer-lasting than most other drugs. It's cheap and easy to create by using household chemicals and pseudoephedrine from cold medicine. In fact, there are many secret meth labs in homes all across America.

Meth, as it happens, is dangerous to make. It puts its makers in peril along with their home residents and neighbors because of potential explosions, fires, toxic waste and hazardous fumes. “I'm really pissed off about this,” said Dawson. “They had a senior citizen and kids living in there. It's bad enough to endanger yourself, but old people and little kids? Come on, man.”

According to www.meth.us.com, the percentage of meth users nationwide cannot be calculated as of yet. However, according to federal estimates, 12 million Americans have given the drug a try and 1.5 million use meth regularly. Some surveys suggest it is the leading drug of choice in the eastern half of the U.S.

Authorities have identified over-the-counter pseudoephedrine as a key ingredient in the meth-manufacturing recipe. It can be found in the following drugstore cold remedies: Chlor Trimeton Nasal Decongestant, Contac Cold, Drixoral Decongestant Non-Drowsy, Elixsure Decongestant, Entex, Genaphed, Kid Kare Drops, Nasofed, Seudotabs, Silfedrine, Sudafed, Sudafed 12-Hour, Sudafed 24-Hour, Sudafed Children's Nasal Decongestant, Sudodrin, SudoGest, SudoGest 12 Hour, Suphedrin, Triaminic Softchews Allergy Congestion, and Unifed.

The reality that this drugstore product can be so easily obtained by meth labs has touched off a national contest of will and political power between important elements of society.

As one example, in 2012 The Consumer Healthcare Products Association in Oklahoma, a trade group for makers of over-the-counter medicine, succeeded in lobbying and PR efforts against reformer and police attempts to require prescriptions for any product containing pseudoephedrine. They had little opposition from consumer advocates. "We believe that requiring a prescription for these medicines containing pseudoephedrine will not solve this problem, but will only place new costs and access restrictions on law abiding Oklahomans who rely on these medicines for relief," said association spokeswoman Elizabeth Funderburk. "We have a shared goal in making sure these medicines do not end up in the hands of criminals, but we believe law abiding citizens should not be forced to bear the burden of a prescription mandate."

In Kentucky, since 2007 the number of meth labs have more than tripled. Kentucky's neighboring states, Missouri, Tennessee, and Indiana, have also become notorious for meth lab discoveries in recent years. Reformers in Kentucky have been fighting hard to control over-the-counter sales. In response, Big Pharma's trade group broke lobbying spending records in 2010 and 2012, beating back an alliance of cops, doctors, teachers, drug experts, and lawmakers from both sides of the aisle. In this Pharma had some not-surprising help from insurance companies who hardly want to pay for more doctor visits.

"It frustrates me to see how an industry and corporate dollars affect commonsense legislation," says Jackie Steele, a reform-minded commonwealth attorney (called a district attorney in most other states) whose southeastern Kentucky district has been overwhelmed by meth labs.

25 states have fought to make pseudoephedrine a prescription drug. However, the process has only worked in Oregon and Mississippi. According to one study, the reason why most efforts failed is because the industry sells an estimated $605 million worth of pseudoephedrine-based drugs a year. Lobbying teams, advertising blitzes and robocalls only strengthen the sales of the drugs and consumer resistance to reform.

In fact, the public relations efforts and ads find a willing audience in consumers. Here is a typical response: “People are always complaining and saying, 'Why is this stuff sold without prescriptions?'” said Dianne Terrell, a medical student living in Memphis, TN. “It's not necessary to write a prescription for every single medicine you might need. If you get a small sinus cold, would you want to go to the doctor and get a prescription just for that?

"I say people should be responsible. If you want to buy medicine over the counter and use it to cook meth, that's on you. Don't punish the people who really are sick and can't afford a doctor or prescriptions. Imagine how stressful it would be on everybody if we had to make everything a prescription. I would also hate to see that happen just because some people have a drug problem.”

There is one man who lives three hours away from Terrell who disagrees. “I'm waiting on something to be done about this,” said George Palmer, a retired boxing trainer in Nashville, TN. Ten years ago, Palmer was training a young prospect who showed potential in the ring. Unfortunately, his 21 year-old protege was arrested for allegedly cooking meth with some friends in a meth lab in the woods. “It's been a while since I've seen a kid who could hit like that,” said Palmer, explaining that the young pugilist had a crushing left hook like former heavyweight champion Joe Frazier. “He had a great future in front of him. He had other priors and is still in jail for the meth situation. Drugs ruin lives, but for me the kicker is that the stuff used to create meth is sold everywhere and easy to get. If you know something is harming people, why sell it?”

There are others who ferverently want to put a stop to meth labs. An Oklahoma man named David Sharkey created a website called stopmethlabs.com. “I have been asked several times why I became involved in shutting down meth labs in Oklahoma," he says. "It seemed that every other night there was a new meth fire or explosion from people mixing pseudoephedrine to make their dope.”

On his website, Sharkey notes that a video about a little baby getting severely burned from their parents' meth lab explosion is what triggered him to do something. “When I saw the play pen had melted on top of this baby, that did it for me. I could no longer stand by while innocent children continued to die from these meth fires when it is 100% preventable. You see, pseudoephedrine in gel cap or liquid form is almost impossible to make meth with. I then put up this web site and went in to massive action to stop the meth labs in Oklahoma.”

Despite his good intentions, Sharkey is incorrect about banning tablets in favor of gels and liquids. Both can be used to make meth, though the process takes an hour or two more. In Minnesota, after carefully researching the matter, the legislature voted unanimously to put pseudophedrine products behind the pharmacy counter and to require buyers to show ID and sign their names and addresses rather than go either the gel/liquid or the prescription route. Very quickly the number of meth labs in the state plummeted by 75%, according to the legislative staff.

Even with Pharma companies fighting every step of the way, the Minnesota reform likely has the best potential to stem the tide given the resistance to prescription mandates.

Meanwhile a company called Westport Pharmaceuticals in St. Louis has been claiming it can make a dent in the meth lab epidemic. Paul Hemings, vice-president and general manager, says "We have a solution and technology that can help make domestic meth labs obsolete, a [pseudophedrine-based] product called Zephrex-D. This advanced technology prevents making meth in the most common illicit lab process, one pot (shake and bake), and is 99% effective in stopping all other known clandestine meth making methods today."

Unfortunately, the federal Drug Enforcement Administration disagrees, and strongly. The DEA reported late last year that it was able to produce meth from Zephrex-D in its own lab. 

A side issue about meth labs gaining increased attention is what might happen when meth homes are sold without the buyer knowing the history. One Tennessee man who purchased a home not realizing that the previous homeowners were arrested for manufacturing meth noted. “When we purchased our home in 2004 as a foreclosure, we were required to sign a notice stating that the seller (the foreclosing bank) was exempt from providing a property disclosure because they hadn’t lived in the home. This is standard procedure, so we signed it." When he later learned the home was a health threat because of toxic residues, the title insurance company refused to pay for the cleanup because of the document he signed. 

A. J. Dugger lll is a journalist based in Clarksville, Tennessee. He recently published his first book, The Dealers: Then and Now. His last piece was on the prescription drug epidemic in his home state.