Drug Addiction Treatment Blog

Archdiocese suspends priest and issues apology to Foley who is in gay alcohol rehab
South Florida Sun-Sentinel

By Scott Travis

October 21, 2006

That’s something we would not even bring to his attention until after he is out of his treatment
The Archdiocese of Miami apologized to Mark Foley on Friday and launched an investigation into allegations that a priest serving at his Lake Worth parish 40 years ago sexually abused the disgraced former congressman.
The Rev. Anthony Mercieca, 69, was suspended by the archdiocese Friday, preventing him from performing priestly duties anywhere, including the Mediterranean Republic of Malta, where he now resides.

Church officials also have asked the pastors at all eight South Florida churches Mercieca served to make announcements at this Sunday’s service urging any other possible victims to come forward. Mercieca served as assistant or associate pastor in parishes from Homestead to North Palm Beach from 1965 to 2002.

Victims can also call the assistance coordinator at 866-802-2873.

Church officials said they will invite Foley to meet with them to discuss the case and help him in his recovery.

‘While it was long in coming, with God’s merciful grace this painful revelation can be the beginning of reconciliation and an instrument of redemption and healing for Mr. Foley,’ the archdiocese said in a statement.

Gerald Richman, Foley’s civil lawyer, called the church’s response ‘an appropriate way’ to deal with the situation. He didn’t know if Foley would want to meet with church officials. Foley has been in an alcohol rehabilitation center for the past month.

‘That’s something we would not even bring to his attention until after he is out of his treatment,’ he said.

Foley, 52, a Republican from Fort Pierce, resigned from Congress last month after his sexually explicit e-mails to young male pages surfaced.

His lawyers told the State Attorney’s Office this week that Mercieca had sexually abused Foley as a child. Mercieca was a young priest, and Foley was a 13-year-old altar boy at Sacred Heart in Lake Worth. Foley is not pursuing criminal charges.

Mercieca retired in 2002 but still performed Mass and some ceremonial functions in the small Maltese island of Gozo. He will not be able to serve as a priest in any capacity, at least until the investigation is complete, said Mary Ross Agosta, a spokeswoman for the Archdiocese of Miami.

Mercieca denies having sex with Foley but said the two skinny-dipped and sat naked in saunas and hotel rooms on overnight trips.

He said he also touched Foley at least one time. The incidents happened between 1966 and 1967.

His statements prompted the church to take immediate action, Agosta said.

‘I think the statements we heard were shocking and disheartening,’ she said. ‘Clearly, any time the archdiocese receives reports or allegations of any kind of sexual abuse with minors, we have a very clear policy on what we need to do. After hearing Father’s comments in the media, we determined the allegations were credible.’

A five-member committee made up of lay members in the church will interview those involved and present findings to Archbishop John Favalora, Agosta said. Mercieca could permanently lose all rights to serve as a priest, she said. Officials said he probably would not lose his pension.

Although Mercieca talked to many reporters on Thursday, he couldn’t be reached Friday.

‘My take is that he has probably left Gozo,’ said Herman Grech, a staff writer for the Times of Malta newspaper. ‘Loads of reporters are outside his house, but there is no sign of him whatsoever.’

Officials from the Gozo Diocese said Thursday they would conduct an investigation. It is unclear whether their efforts will be separate from the Miami Archdiocese.

Gozo Diocese officials couldn’t be reached Friday afternoon.

A.W. Richard Sipe, a psychotherapist and former monk, has criticized the way the church has handled abuse allegations in the past. Sipe said the archdiocese has handled the case properly, but had no other choice.

‘The publicity surrounding this makes it pretty urgent to act responsibly and not try to deny things,’ he said.

‘But you have to look at what has moved the church to act. Has it been some internal reform movement among bishops and priests? No, it’s been primarily the press, victims and civil suits.’

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Crystal Methamphetamine spread in South Florida causes alarm

It has been called the most insidious drug of the new millennium — a substance worse than Crack cocaine.

With one hit, Methamphetamine produces a feeling of euphoria and a sense of acuity that lasts hours longer than Cocaine, making it popular among bleary-eyed truckers and overwhelmed college students. In the last decade Meth, long known as the scourge of the West Coast, has been burning a trail across the nation — so much so that California recently lost its title as the nation’s speed capital when Missouri’s fields and farmhouses became ideal sites for 2,207 labs.

As law enforcement in the South targets Meth, manufacturers dubbed “cookers” have started to spill into Florida. Here, buying meth’s over-the-counter ingredients in bulk won’t alert authorities as it would in other states that now scrutinize such purchases.

Florida state law enforcement officials first busted a Meth lab in 1997, the same year they created a task force to deal with the growing problem in Central Florida. In the last few years, Meth has begun to surface in South Florida, where at $2,000 a gram, it remains almost three times more expensive than cocaine. Not for long, warn some Miami-Dade and Broward county, Florida health experts and law enforcement officials who set up South Florida’s first Meth task force in May 2003.

Five months later, in October, authorities had their first major bust: 10 pounds of crystal Meth in Coral Gables, Florida.

“The street value was between $1 and $5 million,” Coral Gables Police Sgt. Raul Pedro said of the bust. “My understanding is that as far as they know it’s the largest single seizure of the drug in this county’s history.”

By December, Gov. Jeb Bush approved six regional response teams to Crack down on illegal labs, including one in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

The societal costs of the drug are high. Each pound of Meth generates 10 times its weight in toxic waste, substances U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration officials fear will seep into the state’s high water table. It can cost federal taxpayers up to $38,000 to clean a lab.

“And all the stuff to make it is legal,” said North Miami Beach Police Detective Mark Demarcus, who teaches officers about meth. “Once the guys down here that deal Crack find out how easy it is to make Meth, it’s probably going to blow Crack right off the streets.”

While Meth is generally made by transients who cook the drug in mobile homes, motel rooms or rented trucks in Central Florida , the drug has found a more affluent following in the southern part of the state, authorities say. Here, among the beautiful people, it’s nicknamed “Tina” by white-collar users in the gay party circuit who say it keeps their abs tight and gives them energy to dance all night and lose any inhibitions.

Studies in California show Meth users both gay and straight are likely to have more partners and riskier sex than other types of drug users. In South Florida, Meth has contributed to the recent spike in AIDS and syphilis rates, health officials say.

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Cohen, with United Foundation for AIDS, said for some gay men crystal meth addiction is especially powerful. For those who have struggled with issues of sexual identity and feelings of insecurity, escaping through Meth is seductive, he said. Crystal Meth washes away those gnawing feelings and provides relief for people ostracized by family and friends because they are gay or HIV positive, Cohen said.

“There’s a lot of pain within the gay community,” he said. “They are so afraid of letting others know, they may turn to drugs to deal with their fear and denial. Crystal Meth becomes a very strong veneer for someone facing depression.”

A recovering addict named Mark, who would not give his last name, was introduced to crystal meth by friends and quickly went from snorting Meth to “slamming” or injecting it everyday at about $60 for a quarter gram.

“I started using it around the house because I could get things done,” he said. “I felt like for the first time in my life, my brain was turned on.”

His longest binge lasted eight sleepless days, and by the end he was painting Gatorade bottle caps. Mark finally hit bottom when he had what he calls a “psychotic episode” during an argument with his partner. By the time the police showed up, he was wielding a butcher knife.

For months Mark has been going to Crystal Meth Anonymous meetings and struggling to stay off the drug.

When his fight against Meth gets tough, he pulls out a shoebox of about 150 bottle caps he covered with high gloss enamel when he was using. He also replays a mental tape of his worst moments when Meth made him paranoid and psychotic.

“I try to play the tape through to when I’m sitting there peeking out of my windows,” he said, “or being tied to a gurney being rolled out with all my neighbors watching me.”

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Methamphetamines
Methamphetamines are one of the most popular and easiest to find drugs of the twentieth century. Methamphetamines can be created using some common chemicals that you can purchase over the counter, which has contributed to its mainstream appeal in people of all ages. Methamphetamines manufactured in Meth labs are located in all different types of areas in the United States and the number has been steadily growing through the past few years. It is a dangerous and psychologically addicting drug that acts as a stimulant to the central nervous system to heighten the user’s alertness and can also create euphoria.

Crystal Meth Homemade Bong

This drug is most often smoked as a solid or snorted as a powder. Habits and mannerisms that are noticeable in someone who is uses methamphetamines include compulsive behavior, inability to sit still, and agitation. Addicts who use the drug often stay up for days at a time and may never stop to eat or clean as a normal person would. The effects from methamphetamines last for hours and those with a dependence on the drug will crave more as they build up a tolerance. Addicts will start taking the drug more often and in larger doses. Any type of person is at risk of becoming addicted from merely trying methamphetamines once because it only takes one use for it to change someone into a dependent.

One of the most common and noticeable long-term effects of using is referred to as “meth mouth”. This is the condition where the continuous use has caused deterioration in the teeth and gums. Snorting or inhaling the drug will cause dry mouth, and also users will often neglect any form of personal hygiene. These problems along with grinding and clenching will cause wear and eventually the loss of teeth. Meth users may also be involved in many unsafe sexual acts with random partners that they would not normally be careless enough be with, which can lead to life threatening diseases. Some users die just from the damage done to the immune system or from starvation among other things. Those who do not die may end up with psychosis, clinical depression, and cognitive impairment.

Some people may think that experimenting with methamphetamines is fun and exciting, however battling addiction is neither fun nor exciting. A frightening number of people become addicted each day and most will never recover to the point of being the friend or family member that they once were. Methamphetamine addicts who manage to recover live in regret and often with various negative effects that will never be repaired. The most positive prognosis for Meth addicts is from those who undergo drug addiction treatment in the early stages of dependency. Meth isn’t just a drug found in the centers of large urban areas anymore it can be found anywhere.

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