Children too hyper to take a spelling test; pregnant women who want to deliver early because their in-utero child kicks more when mom's taking meth; teenage girls offered by their mothers in exchange for drugs; whole families infected with HIV; preschoolers plunked down in front of pornographic movies on TV so the parents can cook methamphetamines...

These situations are what law enforcement officers and school administrators must deal with on a daily basis they told a representative from U.S. Rep. Brad Carson's office Wednesday.

At a forum held Wednesday they suggested stiffer incarceration penalties, rehab programs including drug court, community involvement, and public awareness be used to fight the methamphetamine problem.

Shane Jernigan, aid to Carson (D-Claremore), conducted the forum at the Sallisaw Civic Center.

Law enforcement officers, school officials and private citizens told Jernigan about their problems with the makers and users of methamphetamines, which is also known as meth and speed.

Jernigan explained Carson is preparing to introduce the Rural Safety and Law Enforcement Improvement Act to the U.S. House of Representatives. He added that input from the forums being held throughout the second district will be used to improve the proposed bill.

Jernigan said the meeting was the 10th community forum on the drug problem.

Carson, Jernigan said, "will tweak the bill, based on the information gathered at these forums, and introduce it after Easter or in May."

Carson is a member of the Congressional Methamphetamine Caucus, Jernigan said. "The caucus has 80 or 90 members...who want to raise awareness about the size of the problem and that President (George W.) Bush's administration has been cutting funding for law enforcement programs."

In prepared information distributed at the forum, Carson wrote that Oklahoma is considered one of the states with the highest use and manufacture of methamphetamines.

Those who attended the forum told Jernigan that Sequoyah County has one of the highest rates of seized meth labs and meth-related arrests in the state.

Carson wrote, "I strongly believe local communities must take decisive action to combat this problem. At the same time...I recognize the federal government must provide assistance to rural America."

Law Enforcement's View

Frank Loyd, investigator for the Sequoyah County Sheriff's Department, said he would like to see more stringent sentencing.

He explained the laws which law enforcement officers must follow now "have over protective wording to protect the innocent.

"We need to do something with the hard-core people so we can deal with the ones who are savable."

Loyd suggested the law be changed so that jail doors are not revolving doors. He said offenders found guilty of a first offense of manufacturing meth should be sentenced by the law as it now stands. But, upon the second offense, Loyd said those found guilty of manufacturing meth should not be allowed bail and, if found guilty, be sentenced to longer prison terms.

Loyd said many or most meth manufacturers don't use the drug themselves. But in their absence while they are incarcerated, the users of meth and other drugs would be better able to succeed in rehabilitation programs.

Jernigan noted that studies have shown that many treatment programs are only 10 percent or less successful, meaning that out of every 10 rehabilitation attempts, only one person kicks the meth habit.

Loyd said he was impressed with the Sequoyah County Drug Court, which has a much higher success rate. "A lot of good people have been sucked into this (meth use)," Loyd said. "Many of them are professionals. They only thing they are going to get in prison is an education (in criminal activity).

"The drug court is the most successful program."

Family Matters

Loyd said that once a family is involved in methamphetamines, everyone suffers, specifically the children. He said the sheriff's office and local law enforcement agencies served search warrants on five county homes during the last full week of March. "Only one of those home did not have children in the home," Loyd said. "Most drug users are of child-bearing age."

To questions about why children are not taken out of homes where methamphetamines are found, Loyd explained that the manufacture, selling and use of meth is considered a non-violent crime, and, as such, allegedly does not put the children in danger.

The truth is a different matter, Loyd said.

Loyd said he has seen women offer their female children for sex in exchange for drugs. "The predator uses the drug as bait," Loyd said.

He said a woman recently told him that she was seven months pregnant and wished her baby would arrive soon because every time she used meth, the baby kicked more. "She said the baby was quiet when she smoked marijuana," Loyd said.

Loyd said that during one investigation officers found children in front of a television watching pornographic movies while their parents cooked a batch of meth.

Because meth users often share needles, Loyd said he has seen a dramatic increase in the number of HIV/AIDS cases in the county. But confidentiality laws about juveniles and health-related problems, he said, kept law enforcement from making public the dire circumstances in which they often find juveniles in homes where meth is commonly used.

"We see it often," Loyd said about the increase in HIV/AIDS cases. It's like a nest in a house full of drug users."

The Oklahoma Department of Health reports that, as of Dec. 31, 2003, Sequoyah County has nine HIV cases and 19 AIDS cases. The state has a total of 2,681 HIV cases and 4,298 AIDS cases.

Loyd said the numbers are probably much higher because drug users do not seek medical attention. Consequently, their diseases are not reported to state health officials.

Debbie Mannon with the Sequoyah County Department of Human Services (DHS) explained to Jernigan that, because the law does not perceive drug makers and users as a violent crime, DHS usually cannot take children out of the home.

But, Mannon said, wherever DHS workers find drug use, they usually also find pornography and sexual abuse. "We have to show how drug use effects their parenting skills," Mannon explained about what DHS workers must take to court to have children removed from a drug home. She said, "If the children have food, clothing and minimum care, we can't remove them."

The caseloads of DHS child welfare workers "are majorly overwhelming," Mannon said.

Mannon agreed the state needs stricter laws and higher bonds for those arrested for drug manufacturing and use.

Allan Rau, member of a group from Gans organized to fight methamphetamines in that town, said, "The family needs treatment. In some families, the kid is the adult. We have decided to try to give these kids something to do. They have no self respect."

Schools Deal With Drugs

Five school administrators and staff attended the forum to voice their concerns.

Debbie Phillips, Liberty Elementary School principal, said she has seen elementary students too high on drugs to take a spelling test.

The administrators noted that elementary-age children talk about their parents making drugs.

"Kids tell us they are hiding in the attic" to avoid drug-related problems, Phillips said. She added that the school tries to teach children to be law-abiding citizens, but the children see drug makers and users walking the streets, unarrested. "We teach children there's a reaction to every action...but they don't see that out in the world."

Gary Gunter, Eastside Elementary principal said he sees a difference in some children's behaviors. "I am convinced a bunch of them (students) are drug babies," he said.

Karen Byers, Sallisaw Schools nurse, asked, "What do we do? Do we educate our judges? Where do we put our money to protect our kids?"

Byers said she believes "a lot of mental illness (in children) is related to drug abuse. The DHS needs help. We've got to have a place to put these kids."

Rau recommended making the public aware of the problem, a step which his group, Gans Cares, has taken. "We decided we were the ones who need to start doing things. The citizens have to be educated. It's what the citizens can do. What are we going to do to keep the kids out of it? We need to know how a community starts to fight this."

Rau said Gans Cares has received assistance from the Cherokee Nation. The groups meets at 8 a.m. the second Saturday of each month in the Gans City Hall community room.

Jernigan suggested communicating with elected officials who do not acknowledge the drug problems.

"Mr. Carson believes we cannot arrest our way out of this problem any more," Jernigan said. "We need a holistic approach to solve the problem."

He added that Carson is working on getting more funding for rural Oklahoma and its drug problems.

Jernigan thanked the school officials and others for sharing their stories on illegal drug use. "You are the first school officials to attend these forums," he said.

Loyd said the general public must recognize and respond to the drug problems before law enforcement can successfully deal with drug users. Until the public takes action, law enforcement is loosing the war on drugs, he said.

"All groups, agencies, schools need coordination and organization," Loyd said, to fight the drug problem.