Notes from the Field
Corinne Carey, Deputy Director
Break the Chains
For so many reasons, I am very excited about getting together with so many people who are thinking intently about how to address the problems that people have with methamphetamine. I've worked with drug users for well over 12 years now, mostly dealing with the aftermath of what is known as our last "epidemic," the "crack epidemic" of the 80s, and I know that we are desperately in need of a new response to drug problems. I've counseled women who've lost custody of their children forever, fathers who can no longer find housing for their families because of housing laws that impede access for former drug offenders, and people who can't get hired anywhere because of their criminal records. All because we turned to incarceration as the solution. I think we're at a point in this country where we know we can't make the same mistakes. The cost of reentry to communities, not to mention the misery inflicted on families, is simply too high. I'm hopeful that bringing together the brightest minds in the fields of addiction treatment, harm reduction, criminal justice, and child welfare, we can start imagining a response that can incorporate the dual aims of increasing public safety and providing compassionate care for those who struggle with meth use. I am particularly interested in the effect that punitive policies have on the children of users. Having just visited Hawaii, where they have been dealing with meth for longer than anywhere else in our country, I'm encouraged by the innovative thinking of people like Dr. Tricia Wright, who recognized the need for a program for pregnant women using meth and made it happen by collaborating with people in other fields to write legislation and get the funding to open a first-of-it's-kind program in Oahu. Sharing that information, and fostering these types of collaborations are the best reasons to have conferences like this one.