Treatment options few

December 30, 2005

MARY AMES/Frontiersman reporter

MAT-SU - Michelle Motta tried for years to get her young nieces removed from a Willow home their parents had turned into a meth lab.

She finally got her wish when Phillip Dean Jackson, 35, and his wife, Laura, 31, were arrested in late February and charged with a slew of offenses stemming from their meth lab operation: second- and fourth-degree misconduct involving a controlled substance, reckless endangerment, contributing to the delinquency of a minor and evidence tampering.

Mike Anderson, a toxicologist with Environmental Compliance Consultants, an Anchorage firm that contracts with the state to clean up meth labs, described the environment the Jacksons' daughters - then 13, 8 and 6 years old - had been forced to live in, saying it was the worst meth-lab environment he'd ever seen.

&#8220It sat in a meadow and had a view of Denali,” he said. &#8220The lab itself was out in the garage, a large garage 40 yards away. It seemed like they had younger children, judging from the first room we went into, from the stuffed animals and stuff I saw in there. The whole downstairs was just piled up with dog s—t, laundry that looked like it hadn't been cleaned in two years. I would probably just knock that house down.”

The girls now live with Motta, whose focus is to protect them from any further trauma. Motta refused to talk about what the girls endured in their former home, but did say there was something she wants the public to know.

&#8220Laura Jackson got out of jail after six months, with no order for rehabilitation,” Motta said Wednesday.

According to court records, both Jacksons made a plea agreement with the state in August. Laura Jackson posted bond Aug. 18 and has been free since then. She was sentenced Dec. 12, according to court records.

Motta said her sister was sentenced to probation, and the lack of court-ordered rehabilitation is a source of deep frustration.

&#8220We [the family] make sure she gets some, but it's not much, just one class two hours a week,” Motta said of the Anchorage program Jackson attends. &#8220No wonder people go back to the same thing.”

Jackson's court file is still in Palmer Superior Court Judge Eric Smith's chambers this week, unavailable for public scrutiny. However, District Attorney Roman Kalytiak looked at his office's copy of Jackson's plea agreement. One of the requirements for Jackson's sentence to five years probation was that she receive a treatment evaluation and successfully complete the recommended treatment.

&#8220There's never a plan at sentencing,” Kalytiak said. &#8220Treatment can vary from outpatient to inpatient. The probation officer sets the requirement.”

In the Valley, treatment options are few. Sometimes, the courts will order attendance at a certain number of meetings every week, such as the ones held by Narcotics Anonymous.

A call to Narcotics Anonymous gets you a recitation of the days, times and locations of their one-hour meetings. But there is no way for callers to talk to someone, to leave a taped message asking for help.

Alaska Family Services in Palmer has three programs within its treatment center, specializing in substance abuse prevention and addiction, according to its Web site. The agency had no one available who was willing to discuss any part of their programs.

The one residential treatment program in the Valley is Alaska Addiction Rehabilitation Services - Nugen's Ranch on the Palmer-Wasilla Highway, with 25 beds and a long waiting list.

&#8220Depending on the program, people are here anywhere from eight to nine months to a year,” said Jackie Cox, treatment program coordinator at Nugen's Ranch. &#8220Right now, we have 22 people on the waiting list.”

Cox said people don't necessarily need a doctor's referral to get into treatment. They fill out an application and verify they have a chemical dependency, with all the legal and family issues that go with most dependencies.

Three counselors, two part-time nurses, three ranch hands and some clerical staff help the clients work through their addictions.

&#8220Addiction is a pathological relationship with an object or event that changes the way we feel,” Cox said. &#8220Few are addicted to one thing: shopping, sex, a relationship or substances. People want a mood change, and they regulate their mood with their addiction.”

Cox has seen meth become a huge problem in the Valley, she said, and although she sees many more people addicted to alcohol and cocaine, meth presents its own problems as a primary addiction.

&#8220With meth, they need more detox time, more medical help, such as dental help and help with their livers,” Cox said. &#8220Detox is a long, slow, painful process. You help them with the symptoms and taper off.”

Josh Fryfogle, a Valley musician who long ago kicked his meth habit, got clean on his own, something most people familiar with addictions say is rare.

Even kicking meth with help, the first time out, often doesn't take, according to Palmer Police Chief Russ Boatright.

&#8220People do make it out, but rarely,” Boatright said. &#8220They usually have to try several times, and different ways. But I have to say, I've seen people turn themselves around and become the antithesis of what they were. It can happen.”

Contact Mary Ames at

352-2284 or mary.ames@

frontiersman.com.