Rotary President Stacey Blackmon, left, and Rotarian Sandra Morris, right, welcome Carroll County Sheriff’s Department Investigator Reagen Clayton.
It seems like a never ending battle for law enforcement. As soon as they shut down one meth lab, others are ready to take its place.
“By the time we’ve caught one person making meth, they’ve taught five others,” Reagen Clayton of the Carroll County Sheriff’s Office told our club last week. Between 55 and 60 percent of those incarcerated at the Carroll County jail are being held because of direct involvement with drug-related crimes, according to Clayton. However, that is not an accurate reflection of how drugs affect society.
“The statistics are accurate,” Clayton said. “ But, what about other crimes? What about the person in jail on burglary charges? Why did he break into someone’s home and steal their property? Perhaps it was to fund his addiction.”
There also is the probability of conflict between drug users living together.
“People who share an addiction must share their drugs,” Clayton said. “That leads to conflicts and assaults.”
Another major concern for law enforcement comes with the dangers of the meth manufacturing process. “It’s explosive. Many homes, hotel rooms and vehicles have been destroyed,” Clayton said. “You take shadetree chemistry and, and in the process, they make bombs.”
Ninety-eight percent of those who try meth, we use it again, making it the most highly addictive drug available. But there is hope for addicts, according to Clayton. He said a variety of treaments methods are available.
“There is a 78-percent higher success rate for faith-based rehab,” Clayton said. “That tells me the answers for someone looking for help come from within. The question leading them to take the drug came from within, so the solution must come from within.”
