Guest: OKC police and DA’s approach to overdoses appears to be punishment over prevention

According to recent police reports and related court filings in Oklahoma County District Court, on April 22 a man was arrested and charged with first-degree murder after calling 911 when a man he was using substances with was overdosing. Later that week another man was arrested and charged when a man he had been using substances with had overdosed, and he didn’t call. Also that week, three other people were arrested and charged with murder because they had supplied substances that people had overdosed on. I know these deaths make us sad. I know we’re angry at the people involved. However, this approach doesn’t help with substance use, addiction or overdoses.

Joshua Askins called 911 because the man he was using substances with was overdosing. The man later died at the hospital, and Askins is now charged with first-degree murder, by way of the felony murder rule. Felony murder is the highly controversial law that says, if you’re in the act of committing a dangerous felony and someone dies, you can be charged with their murder.

Jimmy Miles had been using substances with a man in his apartment, and the man died from an overdose. Out of fear of getting in trouble, Miles did not call 911 and later moved the man's body to a place where he said “it could be found.” He was charged with unlawful removal of a dead body.

Call the police, you will be punished. Don't call the police, you will be punished. What choice does this leave our neighbors in desperate situations?

With these charges, along with the three other people who were charged with murder in connection to deaths by overdose, the Oklahoma City Police Department and the district attorney's office are sending a message: They’re throwing the book at people who struggle with substance use, and throwing out everything we’ve learned about fighting this crisis.

We’ve tried punishing our way out of substance use issues for 50 years. We tried “Just Say No” and harsh sentencing. We tried locking up people who use drugs and people who sold drugs. The only result was the destruction of American communities that already struggled from a lack of resources and opportunities. Substance use didn’t go away. Overdoses didn’t stop. In fact, crack cocaine usage rates are basically the same as they were during the “crack epidemic,” and our overdose numbers are worse than they’ve ever been. Arrests and harsh punishments don't deter drug use or stop the next overdose. If so, the war on drugs would have rid our country of drug use long ago. You can’t punish your way out of a public health problem.

These recent arrests and charges make it seem like the Oklahoma City Police Department and the district attorney’s office are going backward in how they’re responding to substance use. I’ve worked in substance use disorder treatment for a decade. I attend trainings and follow leaders in the field. You’d be hard pressed to find current research that supports this type of overcharging.

Alternatively, OKC residents and the city council have shown an interest in moving toward data driven responses to community issues. We’ve followed Houston’s lead concerning our unhoused neighbors. It appears we’re going to follow Denver’s example by creating police alternative response teams for Oklahoma City residents in mental health crises. We have an opportunity to do the same thing around substance use and addiction.

There are cities across America employing methods that have been shown to help with substance use and prevent overdose deaths. Things that have been shown to lower problematic substance use: housing, food security, access to health care, trauma/anxiety/depression treatment, etc. Things that have been shown to prevent overdose deaths: overdose prevention centers, making Narcan and fentanyl testing kits widely available, and Good Samaritan laws that protect people from prosecution when they call for help.

People might say, “You’re enabling them. You’re coddling them.” I challenge you to listen to professionals in this field, people who are doing the research and working with people daily. These methods save lives and give people opportunities to get help. People deserve to live, even if they use drugs we don’t like.

I know it’s painful to lose someone to substance use or overdose. I’ve buried a parent, friends and a romantic partner. I know the feeling of anger, grief and loss. But, I don’t have to respond from my pain. I can advocate for what has been shown to work. I can be a part of stopping the next family from losing someone.

We have to ask ourselves, is the goal to prevent the next overdose death, or is it to take out our anger and grief on our own community? If we choose to prevent the next loss, our police and DA need to stop what they’re doing, stop thinking we can jail our way out of our problems, and get in line with what we know works.

Walker Milligan is a licensed therapist in Oklahoma City. He has worked in mental health and substance use treatment at the detox, inpatient, outpatient and private practice level.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Guest: Approach to overdoses appears to be punishment over prevention