If you would have told Steven Campbell several years ago that he would be sitting on a panel to educate the public on the negative side-effects of marijuana use, he would have said you were nuts.
But a few years later and a complete 180 degrees from the path he was on has brought him to the other side of drug addiction; providing education on how his drug addiction began with smoking a little weed.
The Marijuana Forum was presented Jan. 23 in Joplin by The Alliance of Southwest Missouri as an effort to provide factual information to the public, not fueled by rumor or emotion, on the long term consequences of marijuana.
Kari Clements, executive director, admitted they were somewhat surprised by some of the vicious comments posted on the organization's Facebook page. As a preventive measure four to five security officers were visible in Corley Auditorium for the Thursday night event at Missouri Southern State University.
"We were concerned there would be picketers but I think the weather may have affected their decision to picket," Clements said.
Campbell was somewhat nervous about the opportunity and worried that he didn't have enough time to get across what he wanted to say in his testimony about the path on which he had traveled.
Sitting among the panel of experts and professionals, Campbell presented his journey of pain, loss, struggle and victory over the demon that took so much of his youth and young adulthood, with passion.
Along with Campbell, the panel featured individuals who had seen first hand results of drugs. Another recovering addict, 20-year-old Nick Rehboltz, explained it this way, "I did it mostly to have fun, but then about six months later it went from fun, to fun with problems to just problems."
His story paralleled Campbell's in that he used to avoid feeling and the more he used the angrier he got.
Another panelist, Brian Bisbee, was self-employed for 23 years before moving to Carthage with his wife where they operate the Carthage Crisis Center.
"What we witness firsthand is that marijuana is a gateway drug to more expensive and deadly drugs," Bisbee said. "The people who come to us are no longer able to take care of themselves; they have lost family, security and are unable to hold down jobs."
Ed Bailey, another panelist, works for the Jasper County Sheriff's Office and stated while working for the Jasper County Drug Task Force, the worst symptom of drug addiction is child abuse and domestic violence.
"What we often see is individuals who can't hold jobs because of their addiction but they need money to pay for their addiction so they turn to crime," Bailey said.
The audience was a mix of gray-headed adults to baby-faced teens, each with an opinion of their own.
However, despite the concerns the group remained quiet and for the most part respectful to the panel of professionals and experts.
Campbell began his story of first using in his teens when he was introduced to marijuana in high school. He was a regular kid enjoying life, playing football and hanging out with friends.
Even though his father was in law enforcement, that didn't stop him from sampling seemingly harmless things such as alcohol and pot until he was using non-stop.
"They call marijuana a 'gateway' drug and I'm here to tell you it is," Campbell said. "The same people that sell pot for a living sell other drugs too. That's their business to keep you hooked."
Campbell adds that he was a functional addict; meaning he used drugs and alcohol even while holding down a job. "I thought I was successful, but now I look back and realize I wasn't handling it that well."
As he noted in his past interview with McDonald County Press, he ran a successful construction company in Alabama, but failed at the one thing that meant the most, his marriage. Already a regular user of pot and alcohol, he found himself spiraling downward into a darker pit.
In 2008, a serious accident introduced him to painkillers and later he began to make his own meth.
"Addiction is very selfish," Campbell said. "It wants to be more important than your marriage, your job, your kids and your life. It cost me so much, but this change in me is for the better."
In the December 2013 article, Campbell tells of his struggle addicted first to marijuana, alcohol, meth and then painkillers. The slide may have been subtle, that is until he hit bottom and his father turned him in.
Even after that event he found himself still doing drugs when in December 2010, a knock on his door forced him to choose between hard time or hard work kicking his habit. He chose participation in McDonald County Drug Court over jail time.
Patrick Pennell, a certified drug and alcohol counselor with the Ozark Center, confirmed what both Campbell and Rehboltz stated. Marijuana does affect a person's mental health from depression to psychosis. And it can last for years after one stops using.
The main speaker for the evening was Kevin Sabet, PhD., who along with a leadership team composed of medical professionals and other experts, including Patrick J. Kennedy, son of Ted Kennedy, founded the Smart Approach to Marijuana organization.
Sabet has served more than 18 years and in three presidential administrations from Clinton to Obama, developing logical drug policy.
He currently is a senior advisor to the United Nations at their Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute in Italy.
He pointed out the marijuana of the 1960s isn't the same marijuana today. In fact today's weed is five times stronger because it has been altered genetically to remove the chemical CBD that reduces the high.
He quoted various statistics related to marijuana use including emergency room admissions in 1991 were 16,251 then jumped to 374,000 in 2008.
The average patients in California are 32-year-old white males and 75 percent of those had used cocaine in their lifetime. In Colorado 96 percent of medical marijuana users use it to treat chronic pain but only two percent actually suffer from life-threatening illness such as cancer or HIV.
Sabet noted that while marijuana isn't any more addictive than alcohol it has 50 percent more cancer causing agents than cigarettes.
For teens using it's a double-edged sword because their brains are still developing and more susceptible to addiction. A study in New Zealand shows that people using three to four times a week have a decrease in IQ of six to eight points.
He drove home the point that the most promoted legal drugs targeting kids are cigarettes and alcohol. It is big money to promote addiction and in order to do that you have to create an industry.
"So here in Missouri you have the lottery and they promised the money would go to improve schools. How's that working out for ya?" Sabet said.
"Big industry can't make money on causal users, they have to create a market," he continues. "Don't be fooled -- the issue is about politics and money not about your freedoms."
He provided resource after resource to support his information sometimes to applause from the crowd, other times to mocking moans.
Even though Campbell didn't get to field any of the questions, he stepped through a door of opportunity to tell his story of falling down and getting up a better man. The first step is often the hardest but this new door offers more opportunities for him to reach those lost in the cloud of addiction.
Today Campbell can proudly say; "I am successful." And that is something that gives meaning to all the years of his past struggles.
Community on 01/30/2014