Meth epidemic swells Ga. prisons

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October 23, 2007

Lori Glenn The Moultrie Observer Tue Oct 23, 2007, 09:29 PM EDT

MOULTRIE — Georgia’s prisons are at about 105 percent, thanks in large part to a methamphetamine epidemic, said Georgia Department of Corrections (DOC) Commissioner James Donald.

Last year, 21,000 inmates were sentenced into the system but only 18,000 were rotated out. The remainder is growth in an already maxed-out system.

“We’re the fastest growing large prison population in the nation. ... We know exactly where our population is coming from,” he said, listing off several Albany ZIP codes.

The crack epidemic in the early 1990s coincided with tougher sentencing structures. For Georgia, a second epidemic — methamphetamine — is under way.

“We’ve taken in 250 to 300 meth-related criminals each month, almost 3,000 a year,” Donald said. “Ninety-seven percent of them are white by the way. ... That’s really crowding us in our jails.”

Eighty percent of felons were either using, selling or in a drug-induced stupor when they committed their crime, he said. In addition, 75 percent of incarcerated offenders have no high school education or general equivalency degree, he said.

Quoting Gov. Sonny Perdue, Donald called Georgia the “corner drug store.” Of the 4,000 Mexicans in Georgia’s prisons, half are incarcerated for selling illicit drugs.

“It’s inherent with the challenge we have with our borders. The GBI (Georgia Bureau of Investigation) has done an elite study and believes that they have suppressed 75 percent of the meth labs in the state, but now the stuff is coming up the road on the interstate,” he said.

The average age of Georgia state prisoners is 34. Sixty-five percent of prisoners will become incarcerated again for another crime, he said.

“They really want to do right,” Donald said, but they need meaningful employment and a suitable place to live to better their chances of resisting breaking the law.

As he toured the Colquitt County Correctional Institution Tuesday, Donald spoke with inmates, appealing to their reason.

“I don’t understand the attraction of living in a cell like this with a whole bunch of other men. Is this something you want to do for the rest of your life?” he posed.

“Sir, no sir,” the inmates responded in unison.

“This is an opportunity to think about why you’re in here. You’re young. You should be out there with the rest of your life and working with your family,” he said.

The largest problem apparent to Donald is lack of work ethic in today’s society. That’s why he likes county prisons, which for the most part put their inmates to work. Inmates with work skills have a better chance on the outside not to re-enter the system, he said.

CCCI Warden Billy Howell noticed that the inmate population is getting younger and younger and that the younger generations have relatively little respect for others. Donald agreed.

“We’ve not done a good job of equipping our kids like we were equipped. As a result of that, these guys are back there for pushing drugs, and they’ve never held a job,” he said.

The DOC has hired 18 new full-time chaplains, and Donald is reaching out for partnerships with faith-based organizations. In addition, Donald is advocating Georgia on the Move, an offender re-entry partnership program among citizens and state and local governments supporting a safe Georgia.

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