March 13, 2008 issue
Joint Efforts Achieve Necessary Changes
Rehabilitation Clinic Works Hand in Hand with Local Law Enforcement
Story by Garrett Simmons
On September 27, 2007, David Brumfield, director of the McLeod Rehabilitation Center in Boone, met with Boone Police Chief Bill Post and several other representatives from the Boone PD and the Watauga County Sheriff’s Office. The purpose of the meeting was to address concerns that McLeod Center clients traveling from Tennessee and Virginia to receive methadone treatment at the facility were responsible for an increase in criminal activity in Boone.
Initially, questions concerning the clinic’s impact on crime in Boone came up at a town council meeting when Chief Post briefly mentioned the McLeod Center and an increasing number of encounters with its clients.
The issues raised at the town council meeting and the subsequent discussion on September 27 marked the union of two seemingly opposed groups into what has become a successful partnership. Commenting on the nature of the two groups, Brumfield said, “Our means may differ, but our ultimate goal is the same: building a safe and productive community.”
That goal, according to Captain Al Reed, head of the Narcotics Unit at the Watauga County Sheriff’s Office, will not be easily attained, but is now closer thanks to the cooperation of the McLeod Center with local law enforcement. “[Brumfield] has been very helpful,” he said. “Our situation was suffering simply from a lack of communication. It has benefited from these two, positive groups coming together.”
However, communication must also exist on a community level, and according to McLeod Program Director Jeff Lefler, establishing that communication is not always easy when dealing with the subject of addiction. “From a treatment standpoint, it is important for clients to be open with their community,” he said. “But the public perception makes it difficult for them to do so. In general, the public would rather not be faced with the reality of addiction, which is often unpleasant.”
One of the critical components originally addressed at the September 27 meeting is the lack of surrounding area resources for people seeking help. In fact, the McLeod Center in Boone originally opened in 2002 to fill what was then an even larger gap in the treatment center network.
Brumfield said, “For people seeking treatment in this region, their only other options are in Asheville or Knoxville, Tenn. It is important to remember that our clients are traveling for legitimate medical treatment.”
Although the center offers treatment in various forms, including individual and group counseling, the use of methadone has created controversy among program critics. A synthetic opiate, methadone is used to stabilize clients experiencing withdrawal from substances such as heroin.
Lefler said, “The first goal for all McLeod Center clientele is the achievement of a drug-free lifestyle. In order to achieve this, addicts must first gain the desperately needed stability in the their day-to-day lives. Methadone is a means of doing so.”
Brumfield offered statistics from the U.S. Department of Health and Human services showing that methadone treatment not only achieves the greatest reduction in criminal activity and drug selling, down 84 percent and 86 percent respectively, but is also cost effective to taxpayers, returning $7 for every $1 invested through the avoidance of crime.
Brumfield and Chief Post said that their work together has greatly reduced the crime level. Post said, “Since our meeting on September 27, we have been in constant contact, and there are now significantly fewer incidents involving [McLeod Center] clients.”
Brumfield explained that because of confidentiality agreements, the McLeod Center cannot offer specific names, but can use lists of suspected violators provided by police to determine which clients are committing crimes and then refuse treatment to those clients.
Following the September meeting, the McLeod Center instituted new rules for clients related to criminal activity in the area. Brumfield said the majority of clients were happy about the new rules. “These people are used to being ostracized,” he said. “Those who are legitimately seeking help are glad to have a policy that will eliminate those who are attracting negative attention.”
Tearing Down To Build Back Up
The Ups and Downs of Addiction And Recovery
“I see people walking into McLeod for the first time, and I remember exactly how I felt when I walked in here three years ago,” said Michael, a recovering opiate addict and patient of the McLeod Rehabilitation Clinic. “They all have that same look in their eyes—complete desperation.”
Michael’s story of addiction is like that of most addicts—deeply personal, yet sadly familiar. Having been clean for almost three years—his longest period of sobriety in nearly ten—he is now able to reflect upon his years of drug abuse with honesty. “I blamed everyone but myself,” he said. “I refused to take responsibility for my situation.”
Growing up in Virginia, Michael said, his childhood was typical of most middle-class families. Although he dabbled in alcohol and marijuana throughout high school and college, it wasn’t until he began a career as a correction officer with the prison system that he started seriously abusing drugs.
“I started using prescription drugs to get noticed at work,” he said. “The drugs gave me energy to work long hours without getting tired. I used them to get promotions, and in the beginning that’s exactly what happened.”
Less than a year later, Michael’s drug abuse reached the level of full-fledged dependency. Although he managed to maintain a veneer of success, Michael said his personal life turned into “utter insanity” as he made daily rounds to an ever-growing list of doctors and pharmacies to satisfy his addiction.
Over the course of five years, he made several attempts to quit. “I checked myself into countless facilities in effort to get clean,” he said. “But each program put a deadline on recovery, trying to get clean before my insurance would no longer cover treatment. I repeated the cycle of getting clean for a week or so and then falling back into abuse.”
Finally his search ended when he was referred to the McLeod Center in Boone. There, doctors assessed his situation through extensive questioning and determined the appropriate course of action. Over the next three months, Michael worked with doctors to find his ideal methadone dosage to provide the stability he needed to begin changing his life for the better.
He explained, “Opiate abusers experience a peak high when they’re using. In the period coming down from that peak, they begin to experience withdrawal. They are sent into a state of panic, which in turn makes them unable to perform simple functions. Methadone releases slowly in the patient’s body. There is no high, no peak, and no comedown. It gives addicts the stability they need to get their lives together.”
Michael has now been clean for almost three years, but said his recovery has been a battle. “When I abused drugs I could ignore the problems in my life,” he said. “Now I have to face them. Life after drugs has been rocky. The difference is that now I am strong enough to confront my problems and deal with them directly. McLeod has given me that strength.”
In recent months, Michael said he has noticed the changes the McLeod Center has made to the programs offered to clients and the rules regarding treatment. Since fall 2007, the center has increased the availability of counselors to six days a week and now requires group session therapy for all patients. He said he is glad to see these changes because it reminds him that he has a support group working with him. “The people at McLeod truly care about their patients; it’s obvious from the moment you walk in the door,” he said.
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