FEATURE_TITLE
“EVERYONE WHO GOES
[TO WAR] COMES BACK A
DIFFERENT PERSON.”
charged with a drug offense are
often simply booted out of the military without treatment — regardless of whether it was the military
that got them hooked on pain medication, as is commonly the case.
Jamie Beavers says he was given
opiates by doctors in Iraq for pain,
anxiety and fatigue so he could
stay on duty. But when he returned
home, he no longer qualified for the
drugs. Too late: he was already addicted. He found an illegal supply
out on the streets — and when he
popped positive on an Army drug
test, he was booted out, without the
opportunity for treatment. “Go see
the VA (Department of Veterans Affairs),” he says he was told..
“This is criminal,” said Howard
Gormley, an Army infantryman
who fought in Vietnam and retired
after 27 years as a Philadelphia
cop. “They (the military) get ‘em
hooked on drugs — then put them
out on the street.”
“They should never let them out
here until they’ve cured them,”
adds Gormley, who works with incarcerated veterans for the nonprofit Philadelphia Veterans Multiservice and Education Center.
What makes it harder for military ex-offenders is that they are
often discharged with “bad paper”
— bad conduct discharges — that
bar them from receiving the VA
benefits they need, such as PTSD
counseling or substance abuse
therapy, let alone the GI bill or
housing assistance. That makes it
easier to fall back into old habits
of drugs and crime. Already, there
is an increasing flow of Iraq and
Afghanistan war veterans into the
criminal courts of Philadelphia,
said Rebecca Hicks, a justice outreach specialist for the Philadelphia VA Medical Center.
“Everyone who goes [to war]
comes back a different person,”
says Patrick F. Dugan, a Philadelphia municipal court judge who
handles veterans cases.
Dugan is a former enlisted paratrooper with tours in both Iraq and
Afghanistan. He currently serves
HUFFINGTON
10.07.12