Title: Wyoming's Methamphetamine Initiative: The Power of Informed Process
Series: Practitioner Perspectives
Author: David Singh
Published: May 2001
Subject: drug law enforcement, juvenile substance abuse, drug treatment
23 pages
61440 bytes
 
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To view this document in its entirety, download the Adobe Acrobat graphic file
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Wyoming's Methamphetamine Initiative: The Power of Informed Process
 
By David Singh
 
----------------------------
 
Wyoming's response to the methamphetamine crisis is ultimately a story of how
hope, determination, and positive change emerged from crisis. An ambitious
initiative to rid the state of meth and meth addiction is under way, and it marks a
shift in priorities from enforcement to treatment.
 
----------------------------
 
The name Rodger McDaniel is well known in Wyoming. Although he currently
serves as an ordained minister, he has served many roles over the years. He
served as a legislator in the Wyoming House of Representatives and Senate for
10 years and worked as a lawyer for 20 years. McDaniel was the Democratic
Party nominee for the U.S. Senate in 1982. He left Wyoming in 1991 for
Nicaragua, where he and his wife served as national directors of Habitat for
Humanity operations. His devotion to God, the people of Wyoming, and
others around the world is the source of McDaniel's local prominence. In many
ways, he is the quintessential Wyomingite--confident, courageous, and family
oriented. 
 
McDaniel's pride is his two children. His daughter Meghan was a gifted cellist
at the age of 16 and had been president of her church group. No one would
have suspected that she was also addicted to methamphetamine--least of all
McDaniel. Such problems exceeded the boundaries of his wildest imagination.
In his words, "We were involved in the lives of our children. We thought that
would immunize them against problems like drug abuse." When McDaniel's
son Pete awakened him in the middle of a March night in 1998 to inform him
that Meghan had been injecting drugs and was "sick," his universe collapsed. "I
thought I was an involved parent," he remembers. "I thought I had done
everything right. I knew that kids used drugs, but I thought it was other
people's kids." 
 
As his daughter lay on a hospital bed in the emergency room, he and his wife
struggled to cope with the reality of their nightmare and had little idea of how to
proceed. Overdoses from methamphetamine were not seen very often, and the
emergency room staff could offer little in the way of advice. One doctor
offered what little he knew about drug treatment: "I think there is a treatment
center in  Colorado Springs," he said. Finding treatment for Meghan was no
easy task--resources for victims of drug abuse in Wyoming were scant. When
McDaniel and his wife finally discovered that help for meth addiction was
offered in long-term residential treatment, they quickly learned that there were
no beds available in the state.
 
Eventually, they found the Hazelden Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota, through
the Internet. Meghan went there for 28 days of treatment and then to The
Gables in Rochester, Minnesota, for extended residential care. "It took 4
months in an intensive controlled environment before she even considered
going sober," says McDaniel. "That should give you an idea about the power of
meth addiction." After 9 months in residential treatment, Meghan continued for
2 more months in outpatient aftercare. She felt unsafe returning to Wyoming
and remained in Rochester, working and attending daily Alcoholics Anonymous
meetings. Meghan came home this past spring. Two and a half years after
entering treatment, she remains sober. She is enrolled in college, determined to
rebuild her life. "In this journey, we learned two important lessons," McDaniel
says. "The first is that this problem can happen to anyone. The second is that
treatment, when done well, works."

In the early 1990s, a monster descended on the state of Wyoming. It crept in
sneakily, steadily, and under a veil of silence. In many ways, the McDaniels'
experience with methamphetamine mirrored the Wyoming experience. Drugs
were thought to be a big-city problem, and denial allowed meth to take root.
Methamphetamine was addictive, available, and cheap. It created a
population of addicts virtually overnight, and it was not long before it began to
cause large- scale havoc--destruction that could not go unnoticed. "Looking
back, the warning signs were there," says McDaniel. "We just did not want to
see them." 
 
There is a story to be told in Wyoming's recognition of this destruction. Like
many stories, it contains lessons--lessons about overcoming denial, learning to
work together to achieve success, coming to grips with new ways of thinking,
and trying to convince others to change. Wyoming's response to the
methamphetamine crisis is ultimately a story of how hope, determination, and
positive change can emerge from crisis. 
 
Today, many Wyoming citizens see addiction through eyes of compassion, not
disgust. An ambitious initiative to rid the state of meth and meth addiction is
under way, and it marks a shift in priorities from enforcement to treatment.
Notably, the shift also enjoys overwhelming public support. How did this plan
come to be, and why does it remain so popular? Who are the leaders in the
state working to put the plan into place? What does the plan look like, and
what does it hope to accomplish? The answers to all of these questions are
found as the story of Wyoming's Methamphetamine Initiative unfolds.
 
Methamphetamine Comes to Wyoming 
 
Wyoming is the ninth-largest and least populous state in the nation with more
than 100,000 square miles of rugged land and fewer than 500,000 residents.
Based on its population density, the entire state is considered a frontier area.
Wyoming is a relatively poor state and, unlike the rest of the nation, has not
benefited much from the upswing of the national economy. Its economy is
driven primarily by mining, oil, gas, tourism, and government employment. The
state has more than 900 miles of interstate highway, about 400 of which make
up the main transportation route from California to the Midwest.
Approximately 4 million people visit Wyoming each year. Its vast prairies,
roaming wildlife, and mountain streams make it a traveler's paradise.
 
The notion of substance abuse has never been a part of Wyoming's rugged
frontier image, but it has long been a part of Wyoming's reality. An article that
appeared in the Saratoga Sun in 1897 reads:
 
There is entirely too much drunkenness in this town for the comfort of
peaceable and law-abiding people. It is hardly possible for a lady to pass along
the street without having drunken and profane language issuing from saloons
there. Drunk men should be made to keep their places, and we pay taxes and
maintain a government for the purpose of holding such things in check. 
 
----------------------------
 
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its entirety, download the Adobe Acrobat graphic file available from this Web
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----------------------------

Indeed, some 100 years later, the state government still struggles with
nuisances related to substance abuse. Today, however, lewd language has been
replaced by more serious problems. While alcohol still threatens the peace,
other devastating drugs plague the state. This is the case with
methamphetamine, a drug that was largely unavailable in Wyoming before
1993. Those persons who were on the front lines of drug control were the first
to discover that a crisis was in the works.
 
Enter Tom Pagel. Pagel is the Director of the Division of Criminal Investigation
(DCI) for Wyoming and oversees enforcement operations for the state. "The
enforcement community saw the emergence of methamphetamine first," he
explains. "Around 1992, our officers were making more and more arrests each
year related to methamphetamine. In 1992, we made 20 arrests; in 1994, we
made 69. Last year (1999), we made 142." Local statistics confirmed this
trend  (figure 1). Casper, Wyoming--later discovered to be one of the meth
hotspots for the state--was hard hit. In just one year (1992-93), drug arrests in
Casper rose 321 percent. A substantial number of these arrests were related to
methamphetamine use and abuse (figure 2).
 
"Prior to methamphetamine, cocaine was the drug of choice for most serious
users in our state," Pagel explains. "When meth hit, it offered more bang for
less buck. The high from cocaine generally lasts anywhere from 1 to 2 hours.
The high from meth lasts between 8 and 10 hours and is generally cheaper than
cocaine. For serious users, meth is a more attractive drug." 
 
----------------------------

This series is dedicated to the exploration of vital issues in criminal justice
program development and management. Case studies highlight the work of
progressive, innovative people and programs in state and local criminal justice
systems. Although a case study may include a detailed description of the
operational aspects of a program, it is not a scientific program evaluation.
Rather, it is a document designed to explore the interaction of factors such as
collaboration, politics, resources, culture, and others that play a part in
successful public management.

----------------------------
 
It was not long before criminal entrepreneurs realized that a great deal of
money could be made in the methamphetamine business. Wyoming's vast and
remote frontier land made it an ideal location for methamphetamine labs.
Dangerous "hot" manufacturing techniques were no longer needed with the
introduction of less dangerous "cold" protocols. A complete stranger to meth
manufacturing who has Internet access, a full-service retail store, and a small
amount of money could have a meth lab up and running in a short time.
Although enforcement officials suspected that the majority of meth in Wyoming
originated in Mexico,  they were also making more and more meth lab busts
each year. In 1997, three labs were discovered. By 1999, that number had
risen to 20 (figure 3).
 
In addition to being head of Wyoming's Division of Criminal Investigation,
Pagel is chairman of the Governor's Substance Abuse and Violent Crime
Advisory Board. The board consists of diverse individuals from a variety of
entities, including state agencies, local government, and various communities
throughout the state. The board meets monthly to further its mission to develop
and execute a drug and crime control strategy for Wyoming. It was at these
meetings in the early 1990s that Pagel realized that his officers were not the
only ones seeing the rampage of methamphetamine. 
 
"I remember one meeting in particular," he says. "We had a representative from
the state department of health on our board at the time. She mentioned that she
had pulled 10 recent files from state-sponsored drug treatment clinics. Seven
of them described individuals addicted to methamphetamine. Jaws around the
table dropped. We were just not used to seeing those sorts of numbers with
meth."
 
Alarmed by the numbers, Pagel and the board took a closer look at the few
statistics that were available to them. Representatives went back to their
respective agencies to look at their own statistics to get a better feel for the
problem. The results were not encouraging. "Once we started to look, we saw
meth or the effects of meth nearly everywhere," Pagel explains. The
Department of Family Services was seeing more and more foster children who
were the victims of parents who abused meth. The prison population showed a
higher incidence of meth use and abuse, and drug treatment providers were
seeing more and more meth cases each day. These direct measures clearly
pointed to a growing meth problem. Less difficult to prove but no less troubling
were the indirect consequences of drug abuse. Violent crime in both juvenile
and adult populations was on the rise. Increases in teen pregnancy, truancy, and
domestic violence all were thought to be connected to the rise in
methamphetamine use. 
 
Pagel and the board were convinced that Wyoming had a meth problem in
desperate need of attention. Yet, it was clear that they needed to learn more
before any action could be taken. 
 
The Epidemiologist Comes to Town 
 
"We knew we had a problem--that much was clear," Pagel explains. "But we
realized that before even thinking about how to deal with the problem, we had
to get a better handle on it. Our own statistical methods were crude and
incomplete. In our field, we often just assume we have a problem and go after
it, without taking the time to document our suspicions with hard facts." 
 
The answer to Wyoming's search for solid statistical evidence was Bernard
Ellis, an epidemiologist and public health professional. Ellis had more than 25
years of experience studying patterns of drug abuse throughout the United
States. 
 
In the early 1990s, drug abuse was increasingly cast as a public health dilemma
in addition to its more traditional image as a criminal justice problem. As a
result, federal agencies, most notably the U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services, encouraged the application of statistical research methods to
assess the scope and direction of substance abuse at state levels. Wyoming
was one of the first states to answer this call; others included Colorado, Illinois,
Massachusetts, New Mexico, and New York. All of these states applied the
same statistical logic to substance abuse that had been applied to diseases like
tuberculosis and polio in decades before. Using a number of research
techniques, epidemiologists and statisticians could paint a picture of drug abuse
in populations in question. That information could, in turn, drive informed drug
control policies.
 
Researchers ultimately seek to describe a problem by making inferences about
the population through population sampling. By using different research
methods and taking multiple samples, researchers can attain a more accurate
description of the problem. Over the course of 3 years, Ellis and other
researchers conducted 8 studies in Wyoming, each with a different population
and research method. Some studies, such as surveys, required generating new
data before any analysis could be done. Other studies focused on the social
indicators of drug abuse, such as arrest rates and mortality, and relied on
preexisting records kept by state agencies such as the department of health.

Studies Reveal the Magnitude of the Meth Problem

The results were shocking (figure 4). According to Ellis, "If these numbers had
been about measles or some other disease, we would have been setting up
quarantines." One study that surveyed more than 80 percent of Wyoming's
students in junior high and high school showed that 

o More than 40 percent of Wyoming children in grades 10 through 12 met the
DSM-IV criteria to be classified as drug abusers. One in 10 could be classified
as drug dependent.
 
o Wyoming eighth graders had higher methamphetamine user rates than high
school seniors nationwide.
 
o Fifty-one percent of the Wyoming Boys School population and 59 percent
of the Girls School population (both reformatory schools) reported past meth
use.
 
Another study of state-supported substance abuse treatment programs found
that

o In 1994, only 2 percent of state-supported substance abuse treatment clients
statewide mentioned using meth at admission. By 1996, that number was up to
8 percent. By 1998, it was 25 percent. Today, some Wyoming treatment
centers report that more than 50 percent of all clients mention meth use on
admission.
 
o Over the past 5 years, Wyoming substance abuse treatment clients have
been two to four times more likely than clients nationwide to report meth use on
admission. 
 
o In 1998, almost 6,000 Wyoming methamphetamine users were estimated to
need substance abuse treatment--more than 1 in every 100 Wyoming residents.
 
Studies documented other disturbing findings: more than 1 in 20 pregnant 
women used meth, 32 percent of foster care placements resulted from drug
abuse, 42 percent of persons arrested for drug offenses in 1 year were repeat
offenders, fewer than 1 in 10 Wyoming residents who needed drug treatment
received it, and hospital admissions due to drug abuse had increased more than
25 percent over 10 years (figure 5). These studies confirmed two important
facts about meth abuse in Wyoming--the problem was widespread, and the
measures in place to combat the problem were not working.
 
The data generated by Ellis and other researchers marked a critical moment in
Wyoming's response to drugs and, specifically, to methamphetamine. The
picture painted by these grim statistics did far more than describe the state of
abuse. Ultimately, the numbers themselves became agents of change; they
fundamentally altered the manner in which the board thought about the problem
of methamphetamine and how to best combat its abuse throughout the state.

Metamorphosis of a Solution to Methamphetamine Abuse

Tom Pagel's career as a police officer began in Michigan in the 1970s. He was
a tough cop who regarded addicts as the slime of the earth--people who
refused to hold themselves accountable for their own actions. Pagel saw to it
that they were held accountable. As a cop, and later as an administrator, Pagel
worked hard to ensure that the criminal justice system treated drug abusers as
criminals. His feelings toward treatment were consistent with this philosophy. "I
hated huggy kissy stuff," he says. "As far as I was concerned, treatment was an
excuse for addicts to escape punishment." 
 
A statistic turned Pagel's outlook upside down. "The stat that grabbed me was
the 42-percent recidivism rate for drug offenders," he admits. "I was an
enforcement guy, and I believed that people needed to be punished for
breaking the law. But when I saw that almost half of the people my officers
were arresting for drug offenses had previously been arrested for similar
crimes, I realized that our enforcement-oriented approach was not working."
Pagel came to an important realization that would later become a mantra for the
state  of Wyoming: "We could no longer arrest our way out of this problem," he
says.  "The statistics that we found in Wyoming proved without a doubt that a
new approach was needed."
 
Determined to gain a better grasp of addiction and the promise of treatment,
Pagel and others journeyed to San Rafael, California, to Center Point, a well-
known residential drug treatment center. The center functions as a "therapeutic
community" (TC) and offers long-term intensive treatment for addicts. The TC
model uses a highly structured approach to drug treatment that focuses on
long-term recovery. The TC approach looks beyond an individual's addiction
and identifies personal weaknesses that may contribute to the disorder. Another
important aspect of TC is the community itself, which provides addicts with
opportunities to develop social skills, economic self-reliance, a work ethic,
personal accountability, concern for peers in the TC, and an appreciation of
the impact their drug abuse has had on those around them. 
 
Methamphetamine users frequently display various types of dysfunction in
addition to their addiction. Sleep disturbances, impulsive and erratic behavior,
malnourishment, short-term memory loss, hostility, behavioral disruption, and
depression are all common. Moreover, drug use often directly or indirectly
results in multiple contacts with the criminal justice system. The TC model of
treatment, because of its longer duration and focus beyond abstinence to
developing prosocial values and behaviors, has proven to be effective with
users of methamphetamine--particularly with users involved with the criminal
justice system.
 
It was a pivotal trip for Pagel. "My entire view about treatment was
transformed," he explains. The 3 days Pagel spent with addicts, counselors,
and administrators in the therapeutic community made him realize that
treatment--good treatment--was no easy road. "I was amazed," he admits. "To
see the struggle that addicts endured, to see how the therapeutic community
model emphasized both compassion and personal accountability, to see the
success of the program--it blew me away."
 
Another realization hit home. Such opportunities for addicts were nonexistent
in Wyoming. Clearly, treatment for harder drugs like methamphetamine
required intensive attention; existing state-sponsored treatment centers were
ill-equipped to offer long-term residential care. Moreover, the scarcity of
resources for existing treatment providers made fighting meth addiction akin to
taking on 10 Goliaths. 
 
"I remember one guy we had arrested had gone through thirteen 28-day
treatment programs," Pagel says. "We were even having trouble helping
addicts who desperately wanted to break their cycle of addiction. On the
enforcement end, we were bringing people into the system just fine, but were
not taking the right approach with them once they were in the system."
 
Pagel returned home with a renewed outlook and focus. One of Wyoming's
top cops became one of the state's biggest advocates for drug treatment. He
would play a critical role in transforming public perception about addiction and
the legislative agenda for it. In the meantime, another transformation took place.
The Governor's Advisory Board changed the way it did business.

A Catalyst for Change
 
Central to Wyoming's war on meth was the Governor's Substance Abuse and
Violent Crime Advisory Board. Established in 1987, the board works to carry
out the executive order under which it was created. That order called for the
development of a comprehensive crime and drug control strategy for the state.
From the beginning, the board featured a diverse membership--a tradition that
continues today. Educators, concerned citizens, treatment professionals,
legislators, judges, public defenders, and law enforcement officials have all
participated over the years. Even so, in its embryonic stage, the board was a
reactive organization that did little more than appropriate funds for statewide
and local initiatives. 
 
Kevin Meenan is the elected district attorney for Casper, Wyoming, and a
long-time member of the board. "We didn't really see ourselves as a strategic
body," he explains. "We saw ourselves as a pass-through for funds, not much
more." Pagel puts it more bluntly: "We'd meet on a regular basis," he says, "but
we wouldn't talk. We'd share a cup of coffee, groan about all the troubles we
faced in our respective fiefdoms, and say goodbye." No serious turf issues 
contributed to the board's lack of cohesion and integration, however. "We got
along fine," explains Steve Lindly, a board member and assistant administrator
for the Department of Corrections. "Nor were we doing the wrong things with
respect to crime and drug control. Looking back, however, it's clear that the
results of our efforts were significantly limited because we were not working
together."
 
Ultimately, it was crisis that brought about cohesion. Because
methamphetamine posed such a threat to the well-being of the state, the board
realized that they had to work together more effectively. The methamphetamine
crisis illustrated that crime and drugs were complex social phenomena that
could not be treated in isolation. "Meth cut across all of our jurisdictions,"
Pagel says. "Everyone on the board brought a perspective to the problem. It
would have been senseless to try to combat it alone. It was time to take
advantage of the enormous diversity in our group."
 
The board was determined to transform itself from a reactive body to a
proactive and strategically oriented entity. As a first step, the board members
set out to learn more from the citizens of their state. They invited people from
all sectors to the table and sought their input. The strategy worked. "No one
wanted to be left out after awhile," says board member Dianne Calloway.
"Everyone wanted to be helpful and play a role in taking on the problem of
meth in our state." In another critical move, the board began to hold its
meetings in different locations around the state to augment outreach efforts.
Everywhere board members went, their eyes were opened to something new.
 
One of the most eye-opening meetings took place at the Wyoming Girls
School. There, the board heard from a panel of girls--all of whom had been
involved with meth--from a variety of backgrounds. "I'll never forget that
experience," says Pagel. "I asked each girl how long it would take her to obtain
meth should she be returned to her old school on that day. The answers ranged
from 20 minutes to one class period--just over an hour. We already knew
there was a problem, we had seen the stats, but nothing hits you harder than
hearing from children." 
 
The Public Campaign
 
Methamphetamine is an insidiously addictive drug, and denial only made
matters worse. While Wyoming families suffered behind closed doors,
reluctant to break a taboo of silence, the drug spread deeper into Wyoming's
social fabric. In an informational video about methamphetamine, Governor Jim
Geringer declared that the state "needed to get away from denial and start
talking about methamphetamine." Working with Ellis, Pagel and the board set
out on a campaign to raise public awareness about the problem. Three
important facts stood behind their reasoning: (1) the public had a right to know, 
(2) public support was critical to leverage support for a methamphetamine
initiative, and (3) the research conducted by Ellis provided the incontrovertible
evidence needed to back up their claims. In short, the facts could not be
ignored. 

----------------------------

Meth Labs: A Dangerous Trend

The proliferation of meth labs in the state of Wyoming coincides with a number
of factors that make it easier for the criminal to establish meth "cooking"
operations and avoid detection. Steve Miller, a methamphetamine enforcement
expert in Wyoming's Division of Criminal Investigation, has personally
witnessed the enormous increase in meth labs in his state. "Before the meth
explosion in our area, the meth labs we encountered were usually 'super labs'--
large-scale operations that were controlled by individuals heavily involved in
the sale and manufacturing of drugs," Miller said. "Today the labs we find are
often one-man operations, set up by people who want to make quick money.
Smaller labs are often harder to track and harder to bust."
 
Why have these one-man operations emerged? The most probable explanation
is the greater availability of simple and affordable recipes for cooking meth.
With new mediums like the Internet, would-be criminals gain access to a
variety of cooking methods that call for materials readily available at local
hardware and drug stores. Matchbooks, over-the-counter drugs, antifreeze,
lye, and glassware are just a few examples of these materials.
 
The increased use of "cold" cooking techniques is also disturbing. While some
recipes use heat to manufacture meth, others require no heat at all. "Hot"
techniques are generally more dangerous (due to the possibility of explosion),
more pungent (making them easier to detect), and more difficult to set up and
break down (making them more difficult to relocate). Cold techniques virtually
eliminate all three of these elements, making it easier for meth manufacturers to
establish small operations and avoid detection.
 
----------------------------

Pagel assumed a leadership role in the process. Because Wyoming's
population is so small, the board knew that, with enough driving, Pagel and
others could reach a large percentage of the population. A 1-hour presentation
was created describing the state of meth abuse and documenting the need for
treatment, prevention, and intervention strategies. Energized as it was, the
board recognized that its situation was bleak. "We were dealing with a culture
that did not believe in treatment," McDaniel says. "Many people in the state
saw the failings of alcohol treatment in the 60s and 70s." Wyoming's feelings
about treatment were not inconsistent with its overwhelmingly conservative
population. Most people felt that the appropriate place for addicts was in the
criminal justice system.
 
Determined to plead his case, Pagel (joined by Ellis on occasion) set out on a
whirlwind tour of the state. He appeared whenever and wherever people
would listen. He spoke to local officials, schoolchildren, and concerned citizens.
He spoke early in the morning, late in the evening, and virtually all times in
between. Word got around about his presentation, and Pagel found himself
speaking before packed audiences everywhere. He put over 45,000 miles on
his car and made more than 150 presentations in under a year.
 
More than a few heads turned when Pagel spoke out in favor of treatment. His
reputation as a police officer known for tough enforcement policies became an
asset. Hearing a reputable cop whom everyone trusted speak up for treatment
sent a powerful message that Wyoming could not arrest its way out of the
problem. "I was amazed by the reception we received," Pagel says. "People
everywhere seemed to grasp and support the concept that a new approach
was needed." 
 
Clearly, the public education campaign was effective--an outcome that
deserves some analysis. Looking back, several factors contributed to its
success:
 
o The message hit close to home. "At nearly every presentation, someone
would come up to me and thank me for talking about the problem and share
their own experiences with meth," says Pagel. "They would talk either about
their own struggles or about the struggles of someone in their family. We were
breaking through the code of silence." It was clear from the campaign that meth
was not a problem that could be relegated to the "not in my backyard
syndrome." Meth was in everyone's backyard, and the campaign played an
important role in bringing that fact to the forefront. At one public meeting, a
father spoke tearfully of his daughter's addiction. He talked about the pain of a
parent coming to grips with the fact that the unthinkable had happened to his
daughter. He also shared the devastating financial consequences of paying for
treatment. He and his wife had to use money put aside for their children's
education and were forced to sell their family home to pay for treatment. "But,"
he said, "my daughter is going to live." 
 
o It was clear that alternatives to treatment were not working. According to
McDaniel, "More and more families were experiencing the failures of
incarceration for drug addiction. We were spending more money on jails and
prisons, but they failed to show any curbing of the problem." McDaniel recalls
defending one young addict who had extremely conservative parents--parents
who had always believed the place for addicts was in jail. "It wasn't until it
happened to their daughter that they realized that addiction is a disease that
needs to be treated." In many ways, Wyoming woke up to this realization in
much the same fashion; if it wasn't your child, your parents, or your sibling, it
was your neighbor or friend who was involved with meth. People could see for
themselves how much addicts needed help, not jail.
 
o The statistics gathered by Ellis and others described a problem that could not
be ignored and illuminated the need for a radical new approach. "I could talk
to a principal in any school in Wyoming until I was blue in the face trying to
convince him or her that there was a meth problem in their area," Ellis recalls.
"But when I was able to present the principal with the results of a survey
conducted in his or her school district, the facts could not be ignored." As grim
as the statistics were, Pagel, Ellis, and others found them to be empowering as
well. Ellis describes one presentation made to a group of high school students.
"They did not like the dubious distinction of being the worst in the nation with
respect to drug abuse," he explains. "They wanted to surmount the problem
once they understood its severity." 
 
The public campaign was a critical element in the board's strategy to take on
the methamphetamine crisis. Armed with public support, it could turn to the
next step--convincing the legislature that funds were needed for a
comprehensive methamphetamine initiative.
 
Putting Democracy To Work
 
"I learned a valuable political lesson from our awareness campaign," says
Pagel. "If you have a message that you want to promote, you market it to the
people." Unbeknownst to Pagel at the time, citizens who had been educated
about meth were contacting their legislators. Legislators who had been
protected by silence were now being pressured to respond.
 
Even so, getting money from the Wyoming Legislature was, according to
Pagel, "like trying to squeeze blood out of a turnip." Wyoming has a shallow tax
base,  making fiscal resources scarce. Not surprisingly, the politically
conservative legislature is even more conservative when it comes to fiscal
matters. Each year, the legislature would summon state agencies to testify
before them. "We would always ask for more money," Pagel says, "and they
would nearly always tell us that none was available." For that reason, Pagel and
the board were less than optimistic about their chances of securing major
funding to combat methamphetamine. "We were planning to redistribute some
of our resources toward treatment, if necessary," explains Pagel, "but that
would only get us so far." Pagel was accustomed to having just a few minutes to
speak on behalf of the Division of Criminal Investigation each year before the
appropriations committee. That year, he intended to use all of his time to bring
attention to the meth problem. 

At the time, the chair of the Wyoming Senate Appropriations Committee was
fiscal conservative and Republican Tom Kinnison. Pagel quickly learned that
his public campaign had already put meth on the committee's radar. Before
Pagel could utter more than a few sentences, Senator Kinnison stopped him
and said, "Tom, tell me everything you know about this meth problem." What
was normally a 5-minute annual exchange turned into a 1-hour session--the
very same type of session that Pagel had shared with the people of Wyoming,
the very same statistics that had helped to transform its citizenry. If Pagel was
surprised by the request for information about meth, what happened when he
finished speaking was even more shocking. "After Tom had finished his
presentation," Senator Kinnison recalls, "I said to him, 'What do you need to
deal with this problem--I want you to think about it and come back to the
committee with a plan.' I think he nearly fell out of his chair when I said that!" 
 
Truth be told, Pagel nearly did fall out of his chair. Never in his experience with
the state legislature had he been presented with such a window of opportunity.
"I left the meeting practically shaking," he says, grinning. "I came back to my
office and called everyone on the board for an emergency meeting." It was
clear that the attention the board drew to the issue of meth helped to set the
stage for a new relationship with the state legislators. The board had just under
5 weeks to come up with a plan.
 
Strategizing for Success
 
For the first time, the Governor's Substance Abuse and Violent Crime
Advisory Board sat down to develop a comprehensive strategy to deal with the
epidemic of methamphetamine. "We had one chance to pitch our plan to the
legislators," Pagel said. "We had to be smart about formulating a strategy."
Rather than compartmentalizing the problem along jurisdictional lines, the board
created an integrated approach. Because resources were scarce, an integrated
approach offered the best chance of obtaining more potent results for a given
sum of money.
 
Instead of asking for a lot of money for indiscriminate use in treatment,
prevention, and intervention, the board members focused on establishing
research-based and proved practices. Their plan was to establish drug
treatment, intervention, and prevention pilot programs throughout the state
before devoting long-term assistance to any one initiative. They had learned a
valuable lesson from Ellis's work: research and statistics not only help determine
the scope of the problem but also help determine the effectiveness of a
response to that problem. Accordingly, the board proposed to monitor and
evaluate the pilots over 2 years. At the end of 2 years, the board would be able
to point to the most promising models for the state of Wyoming and then
expand them.
 
A great deal of work went into the proposal over the next several weeks. The
final product called for the establishment of several key initiatives, nearly all of
which were driven by needs exposed by Ellis's research. Among other things,
the proposal called for 

o Developing and eventually implementing a long-term residential treatment
facility in Wyoming.
 
o Establishing and supporting intensive outpatient drug supervision programs
for the criminal justice population.
 
o Establishing a methamphetamine working group of representatives from a
wide range of disciplines charged with critiquing and monitoring the
implementation of methamphetamine-related initiatives.
 
o Creating and distributing information for parents and addicts about available
resources, including a brochure titled, I Think My Child Is Using Drugs, What
Can I Do: A Guide for Parents and Families.
 
o Developing a specialized foster care program for mothers in need of
treatment for methamphetamine and other drug addictions. Many mothers had
expressed reluctance to enter into treatment because it might mean the loss of
their children to the Department of Family Services. This program was
proposed to circumvent that problem.
 
o Establishing a drug court in Unita County. The board recognized the need for
sentencing options for judges to ensure that addicts within the criminal justice
system were afforded the opportunity to recover.

o Implementing the 15,000-Hour Initiative, a prevention and education effort
focusing on children from kindergarten through age 12. Prevention programs in
Wyoming were scarce at the time and focused almost exclusively on high
school students. Ellis's research revealed high levels of drug abuse among
children in middle school--a finding that demonstrated the need for prevention
and early intervention throughout a child's student life.

These represent just a snapshot of the initiatives called for by the board's
proposal. A recent report issued by the board describes the essence of their
plan:
 
This plan represents our best collective thoughts on what Wyoming needs to
do NOW. It should also be clear that it represents a change in priorities. The
board has concluded that public safety and health can best be protected if we
balance strong law enforcement and appropriate punishment with the
availability of effective and affordable treatment. We have concluded that while
law enforcement is an important part of a comprehensive strategy, we cannot
build enough new prisons or jails nor can we arrest enough offenders to solve
the problem. Arresting addicts and putting them in prison without providing
treatment opportunities is an approach doomed to fail.
 
Clearly, the board was not shy about expressing its shift in focus. "We felt
comfortable talking about treatment," board member Steve Lindly says. "We
had done our homework and knew that most people believed in our
approach." Armed with public support and the confidence that the proposal
called for the essential first steps to combat meth, the board submitted the
proposal to the appropriations committee.
 
Legislative Victory

Senator Kinnison did not have high expectations for what the board would
propose. "I expected Tom to come back and ask for additional undercover
officers for DCI," he admits. "When I saw the proposal, it was my turn to fall
off my chair. The comprehensive and integrated approach to the problem
detailed by the proposal marked an unprecedented kind of approach." From
the committee's standpoint, the proposal set the stage for a new way of doing
business. In prior years, the committee would appropriate money to state
agencies "alphabetically." "That is to say," explains Kinnison, "there was no
method to our appropriations. Tom and the board gave us a method--everyone
wanted to rid the state of meth. A comprehensive plan like the one presented to
us was difficult to turn down."
 
The committee's ruling marked a historic event in Wyoming. The legislature
appropriated $3.2 million to implement Wyoming's Methamphetamine
Initiative--a sum that would fund a substantial portion of the board's original
proposal. Of that $3.2 million, only $250,000 was dedicated to enforcement.
The majority of the money was dedicated to the establishment and
enhancement of drug treatment throughout the state. Overnight, Wyoming's
treatment budget had quadrupled.
 
Unique Factors Contributing to Success
 
The Governor's Substance Abuse and Violent Crime Advisory Board had
managed an impressive victory. No magic bullet contributed to its success.
Rather, the board's achievements can be attributed to a number of factors
detailed below. Some the board worked deliberately to secure, others were
quite accidental, and still others were beyond the board's control but
nonetheless played an important role.
 
Collaboration
 
The board's newfound ability to work together played a decisive role in its
victory. Working together meant:
 
o Maximizing resources. An integrated initiative ensured that the board
members did not duplicate their efforts and waste funds--an important
consideration in dealing with a relatively small and finite sum of money.
 
o A more effective strategy. Recognizing the complexities of the
methamphetamine problem, the board members understood the need to work
together to develop a balanced approach.
 
o Greater legislative success. Chris Boswell, a Democrat from Sweetwater
County and a member of the Wyoming Legislature, believes the united front
exhibited by the board made a big difference. "Rather than pursuing their own
agendas," he says, "the agencies came together and were able to look at the
big picture--something that had not been done before. We were struggling to
come up with a solution to a problem, and we were led to the answer by a
widespread coalition."
 
Of course, coming together in Wyoming was not as difficult a prospect as one
might imagine. The state's small population made it considerably easier to bring
the parties to the table. Moreover, a small population base made developing a
consensus far less difficult than it would have been in areas with bigger
populations. A former governor was fond of saying that Wyoming was one
small town with very long streets. Lindly agrees: "Even though we have a large
state, you see the same people over and over again--we all know one another.
That fact, combined with an inherent lack of turf issues, made working together
relatively easy. Really, if you can't pull this off in Wyoming, you can't do it
anywhere." 
 
Leadership
 
As with many successful initiatives, leadership played an enormous role in the
success of Wyoming's Methamphetamine Initiative, and few, if any, will contest
that Pagel's leadership was instrumental. Nearly treatment. "When you have a
reputable cop like Tom Pagel speaking in favor of treatment, it has a big
impact. Obviously, he was not doing it out of self-interest. It was clear that he
was advocating treatment because he felt it was the best thing for our state.
When he talked, people listened. Not only legislators but people from all over
the state." 
 
----------------------------
 
Chronology for Wyoming's Methamphetamine Initiative

1993 Department of Criminal Investigation begins to notice an increase in the
number of meth-related arrests.
 
1996 Bernie Ellis conducts studies to determine the nature and extent of
substance abuse in Wyoming.
 
Governor's Substance Abuse and Violent Crime Advisory Board launches
campaign to increase public awareness about the methamphetamine problem.
 
1997 State legislature asks for a plan to combat the meth problem.
 
1998 State legislature appropriates $3.2 million to seed Wyoming's
Methamphetamine Initiative.
 
1999 State legislature delivers a 2-year, $5.2 million appropriation to continue
development and implementation of Wyoming's Methamphetamine Initiative.

----------------------------
 
Additionally, Pagel's ability to bring people together made the board's
newfound collaboration possible. His willingness to remain open to new ideas
and to share in the decisionmaking process and his strong personal ties with
people across the state were important factors in building a united coalition. 

Other leaders played important roles as well. The governor was active in
helping to craft the plan. Other members of the board effectively promoted
their message and contributed to the plan's development. Legislators helped to
refine the board's proposal, and many unsung heroes helped to make the
Wyoming Methamphetamine Initiative a reality. Ultimately, the
methamphetamine problem brought out the leadership potential in countless
Wyoming citizens as they banded together to rally against crisis.
 
Statistics
 
The statistics generated by Ellis and others played a critical role in the board's
success. Numbers helped to bring about Pagel's and the board's
transformation; they helped convince the public and legislators of the nature of
the problem. They demonstrated both the failure of past punitive approaches to
drug abuse and the promise of treatment. Ellis's continued presence in the state
as a seasoned and reputable epidemiologist was also invaluable. Those who
expressed skepticism about the numbers or called for elaboration on the
studies were able to question Ellis about his findings. "The Governor himself
asked me to attend a cabinet meeting to explain the findings," says Ellis. "Those
kinds of opportunities were important to demonstrate that the findings were
credible and very real."
 
Desperation
 
One factor that could not be controlled but worked to the advantage of the
board was the fact that Wyomingites were hungry for answers to the meth
crisis. "We were desperate," says Boswell. "Meth had us all scared, and we
had little choice but to listen to anyone with a reasonable solution." 
 
Would the board have been so successful had the public and the legislators not
been so desperate for a solution? This question does not cast a shadow on the
accomplishments of the board. While desperation may have made Wyoming
more attentive to the board's call to action, credit should be given for its
success in drawing attention to the issue, generating public support for the
project, and for the ingenuity of its approach. Moreover, legislators did not
indiscriminately sign off on the Meth Initiative. Their large appropriation sent a
strong signal that the plan held great promise.
 
Looking Ahead
 
The board's securing $3.2 million to combat methamphetamine provided a
foundation on which to build--a foundation that continues to be built on today.
The following fiscal year, the appropriations committee approved a 2-year,
$5.2 million appropriation, a sum that ensured the continued operation of pilot
programs throughout the state. In addition, the state is planning a variety of
new projects in the area of drug treatment, prevention, and intervention,
including
 
o The establishment of a Statistical Analysis Center, which will operate through
an innovative partnership between the state and the University of Wyoming.
Recognizing the continued importance of statistics as a roadmap to success,
this center will create a centralized statistical database and information
management system. The center will compile and analyze statistics generated by
state and local agencies, a function that will continue the tradition of
research-driven policy. Additionally, it will promote a knowledge base of
research and evaluation on which future policies, programs, and strategies can
be built. 
 
o The expansion of existing corrections-based treatment programs to provide
greater treatment opportunities for inmates. Wyoming's prison population
remains one of the state's most addicted groups. An estimated 50 percent of
Wyoming's inmates are drug abusers, and methamphetamine is often their drug
of choice.
 
o The establishment and evaluation of several drug courts in the state (including
in Indian Country).
 
o The development of a summer school to train substance abuse counselors.

o The implementation of a telemedicine project that will link various corrections
facilities to the state hospital.
 
These state initiatives to combat meth and other drug abuse are the products of
new thinking in Wyoming--thinking that originated only a few years earlier
when methamphetamine first raised the eyebrows of the board. Since then,
Pagel and others have worked hard to reinforce the message that any strategy
must be dynamic and flexible to be successful. "Our drug problem is not static,"
says Pagel. "It's complex and always changing. We have to continue to adapt to
be effective."
 
Still, new thinking and adaptation have yet to do away with critics of the Meth
Initiative. Some people deny that the meth problem is as bad as the statistics
show and are skeptical of the massive government expenditures to combat it.
Mark Voss, a former public defender in Cheyenne, questions whether a meth
crisis really exists in Wyoming. "More people may be using meth," he
concedes, "but is it a crisis? I'm not sure." While Voss admits that he has not
seen Ellis's study, he remains cautious about accepting the numbers at face
value. "My experience with studies like these," he explains, "is that they are
often done by people who have an interest in seeing inflated numbers." Ellis's
response to the argument is clear enough: "I'm not the one who stands to benefit
from increased funding from the state legislature. My interest in this process is in
applying scientific principles in order to clarify problems. In my view, we do not
do the public any good by overdramatizing the problem." Ellis also points out
that the numbers are probably conservative. His widely quoted school survey,
for example, was based on self-reporting by teens in school--a method that
does not account for false survey responses and teens outside of the school
system. 
 
Some treatment providers have also voiced opposition to the initiative. Many
providers are frustrated by new requirements that call for quantitative
demonstrations of success. They claim that the human worth of their programs
cannot be measured in statistical terms. Although Pagel and others on the
board concede this point, they remain steadfast about their new requirement for
evaluation of treatment services. "We are dealing with a small sum of money,"
explains Pagel. "The reality is that we can only afford to fund programs that can
demonstrate to us that their services work."
 
Still others, including Voss, are cautious about the influx of mechanisms like
drug courts, which present complex problems with respect to the rights of the
accused. "My biggest concern," Voss argues, "is that drug courts can be
coercive with respect to defendants. If defendants are given the choice
between jail time and treatment, you don't have to be a genius to figure out
which they are likely to choose. We have to be careful about a system that baits
defendants into one course of action over another." Even so, Voss believes
that incentives to get people into treatment are necessary and that drug courts
are, at least in theory, a good idea. 
 
Despite these critics, few, if any, will contest that Pagel and the board have the
best interests of the state in mind. Moreover, Pagel admits there is room for
improvement: "More focus needs to be put into prevention and early
intervention." While the numbers from Ellis's student survey pointed to an
urgent need for prevention and education, only $100,000 of the initial $3.2
million was dedicated to these areas.
 
Other concerns stem from Wyoming's focus on methamphetamine to the
potential exclusion of other, more deep-rooted problems. Although most agree
that methamphetamine presents a uniquely difficult problem, there are those
who believe that it should be dealt with in the context of addictive behavior in
general. While McDaniel fully supports the Meth Initiative, having helped craft
it, he also believes that more needs to be done. "We frequently fail to see the
forest for the trees," he says. "We spent a lot of time and effort trying to treat
addictions without taking the time to look at the conditions that might be
contributing to addictive behaviors in the first place." It follows from
McDaniel's logic that issues such as poverty, social isolation, lack of healthy
opportunities for young people, and other social concerns also need to be
factored into the methamphetamine equation.
 
Perhaps one of the biggest social concerns that remains largely unchecked is
Wyoming's alcohol problem. Today, Wyoming is plagued by the rampant use
of alcohol, a drug that leaves behind devastation that easily rivals, if not
outpaces, that of methamphetamine. Alcohol-related fatal automobile crashes
in the state occur at double the national average, and Wyoming children have
the fourth-highest alcohol usage rate in the nation. Yet, unlike with meth,
widespread support to combat alcohol and alcohol-related problems is not
forthcoming--largely because Wyoming is a state in which alcohol use is deeply
ingrained. "Wyoming was the last state in the nation to change its minimum
drinking age to 21, drive-through liquor windows are still found throughout the
state, and some members of the public and the state legislature still believe it is
their Constitutional right to drive down the highway with a beer in their hand,"
says Pagel. "The result is some of the most lax drunk driving laws in the nation."
It is reasonable to suppose that any state working to create safe, healthy, and
crime-free communities must address all of the addictions that threaten its well-
being.
 
It would be unfair, however, to suggest that the Meth Initiative has only
influenced the issue of methamphetamine abuse. The board's new way of doing
business has set the stage for a new era in state governance. Agencies are
learning to work together on a multitude of issues, the executive branch has
benefited from unprecedented cooperation with the state legislature, and
citizens have begun to appreciate the importance of balanced approaches
toward crime and drugs. 
 
The success of Wyoming's Meth Initiative is an unfolding story, one that can
only be fully told as the state evaluates the impact of its efforts. However, even
if the initiative fails, much can be learned from the process itself. Working
together was a lesson in the power of a united front. Taking the campaign to
the public was a lesson in the power of grassroots activism. Success in the
legislature was a lesson in the power of democracy. The use of research to
drive policy was a lesson in the power of making informed decisions. In the
end, Wyoming's Methamphetamine Initiative is about much more than drug
abuse. It is a story about personal and large-scale transformation. Its impact
will be felt by the citizens of Wyoming for years to come.
 
For More Information 
 
For more information about the Wyoming Methamphetamine Initiative, contact:
 
Thomas Pagel, Director
Division of Criminal Investigation
316 West 22d Street
Cheyenne, WY 82002
307-771-7181
307-771-7252
 
For more information about BJA grants and programs, contact:
 
Bureau of Justice Assistance
810 Seventh Street NW.
Washington, DC 20531
202-616-6500
 
Bureau of Justice Assistance Clearinghouse
P.O. Box 6000
Rockville, MD 20849-6000
1-800-688-4252
E-mail: askncjrs@ncjrs.org
World Wide Web: www.ncjrs.org
 
Clearinghouse staff are available Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 7:30
p.m. eastern time. Ask to be placed on the BJA mailing list.
 
----------------------------
 
The Bureau of Justice Assistance is a component of the Office of Justice
Programs, which also includes the Bureau of Justice Statistics, the National
Institute of Justice, the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention,
and the Office for Victims of Crime.
 
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NCJ 186266