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Family plight inspires help for recovery

Angela Harris set out to help other families ravaged by drugs. She has discovered a need to address a nefarious newcomer: meth.

By GINA PACE
Published November 10, 2006

DADE CITY - Angela Harris says her family has been through hell. But it was all for a reason.

Her brother has battled a drug addiction for about 15 years. It started with marijuana and graduated to a daily crack habit. Things got so bad he stole cars from relatives to trade for drugs.

Through the years, family members learned how to cope. Now, Harris is helping others.

In March, she started Voice Of Truth Outreach, a faith-based support group for addicts and their families.

Her brother was addicted to crack, but while working with the support group she saw people's lives torn apart by another drug: methamphetamine.

Harris has organized a conference that takes place Saturday at the Pasco Middle School auditorium. She wants to teach about the dangers of meth and give parents tools to make sure their kids don't start using it.

"Drugs have gotten so bad it's going to take the community coming together," said Harris, 32, who works at Harris Plumbing, a family business in Dade City.

* * *

"Meth is the fastest growing problem in our communities."

Sheriff Bob White has been telling Pasco County residents those words in a public service announcement that started this summer.

The drug was first seen in Pasco about six years ago. The number of meth labs in Pasco climbed steadily thereafter, partially because a Polk County crackdown drove users to east Pasco, authorities say.

But the county has had some success in fighting the drug, sheriff's Lt. Robert Sullivan said. In the first half of the year, authorities found 13 meth labs. In the last three months, they have not busted a single lab. Last year they found 22.

"Every month without a meth lab is a good month," Sullivan said. "It's not a matter of not finding them. There is a better-than-average intelligence network out there sniffing these things out for us."

But other area drug experts says the county's meth problem remains.

Luis Lopez, a substance abuse counselor for the Harbor Behavior Health Care Institute and a Zephyrhills City Council member, estimated that for every meth lab that law enforcement finds there are three more.

"I give cops all the credit. They are bending over backwards with the manpower they have," Lopez said. "But it's an uphill battle."

And even if meth lab busts have dwindled in Pasco, people are still being arrested for using or trafficking in the drug.

As recently as Tuesday, deputies arrested 23-year-old Mary Cole of Brandon, and 20-year-old Troy Lee Jackson of Wesley Chapel and charged them with trafficking. They had 18 grams of meth in their rental car, according to sheriff's reports.

A lack of treatment options and support groups in the area makes long-term impact difficult, said Capt. Randy Belasic with the Zephyrhills Police Department.

"There are not really any programs for addicts or the families of addicts," Belasic said. "The only help they get is when law enforcement puts them in jail and the judge sentences them to treatment."

The Harbor Behavior Health Care Institute has offered outpatient treatment for drug addicts with limited income in Dade City for several years but only received state funding for those services a few weeks ago, said Ed Monti, director of clinical operations.

The treatment there focuses on addicts, not families.

Harris said her family struggled to find help to understand her brother's addiction. Harris' mom, Sandy Hardee, searched for meetings and support groups but couldn't find any near Dade City.

"There were no resources, there was nothing," said Hardee, 55. "If we were feeling like this, imagine how other people might be feeling that didn't have the support system that we had with each other."

Circuit Judge Lynn Tepper, who used to preside over the county's unofficial drug court, said there are some options available. Narcotics Anonymous groups meet in east Pasco at Florida Hospital Zephyrhills, for instance. But more services are needed in the Dade City community, she said, adding that there are no residential treatment programs in that area.

That lack of community resources that Harris' family found prompted her to take action. She started hosting two support group meetings a month at Calvary Assembly of God in Dade City. Addicts and family members all participate in the same group.

Harris sets up tables at community events to promote the meetings. In time, she wants to add more group leaders and meeting times, and visit area youth groups and schools.

* * *

Harris' brother entered an 18-month court-ordered treatment program in February, after being arrested on charges of stealing two cars from their mother. Harris declined to give his name because of a confidentiality agreement with the treatment center.

She said he's doing well in the program and that he plans to help her with the outreach when he's finished.

"My brother wants people to know what drugs can do to someone," she said.

Educating others is the good thing that can come from her family's pain, she said.

"Maybe I can't help someone in the last stage of addiction, but we can educate the youth," she said. "Then maybe the next generation coming through will have knowledge this generation didn't have."

Times researcher Caryn Baird contributed to this report. Gina Pace can be reached at 352 521-6518 or gpace@sptimes.com.

[Last modified November 9, 2006, 23:03:11]