Bountiful mayor, his daughter say meth devastates families
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No comments [ Add Comment ]By Jamie Lampros
Standard-Examiner correspondent
B
OUNTIFUL -- People were honking and waving at Mayor Joe Johnson in 2005 as he stood on the lawn of the apartment complex where his daughter lived. They had no idea Johnson was aching with torment.
The police had arrived at his daughter's home just minutes before and were knocking down the front door to arrest her.
"She was a meth addict," Johnson said. "We didn't detect it early. I guess we had our heads in the sand."
Johnson's daughter, Jenie L. Myers, was sentenced to six months in jail for forgery, theft by deception, possession of drugs and possession of stolen credit cards.
"I never thought I would be putting my hand on a glass window to say goodbye to my daughter. Seeing her in the prison garb and the shackles, it was just a very sad day," Johnson said.
"We just didn't see the signs, but there were signs. Things started missing -- credit cards, money. The bank account was shrinking."
It was an awful time, Johnson said, and the stress nearly tore his family apart.
"I knew we had drug issues in Bountiful. In fact, 85 percent of our crimes are related to drugs and alcohol. If we could just get that problem solved ..." Johnson said.
Myers, now 29, lost custody of her two children to her own parents. After her six months in jail and rehabilitation at Davis Behavioral Health's Women's Recovery Center, Myers now says she no longer uses the drug.
She has regained custody of her children and resumed a successful job as a hair stylist.
She isn't the least bit shy in talking about her drug abuse.
"I was first introduced to meth by my ex-husband. We both used other drugs recreationally, but neither of us had ever used meth until one day he was coming to pick me up from work and stopped to get gas, and a guy walked up to him and said, 'If you give me a ride, I will pay for your gas.' He paid in meth."
The first time she used meth, it was a crazy experience, she said.
"We were up for three days, and we spent so much time driving around, talking really fast about nothing, yet it felt like really deep conversation," Myers said.
"Then my ex-husband got really paranoid, and we went back to the house and he moved the couch in front of the door and locked us in the room and went crazy. He thought that people were breaking in and coming to get us.
"After that, we swore we would never do it again."
That vow lasted until the following weekend, Myers said.
She said her meth addiction started out small and she thought she had it under control.
"I would get clean, relapse, get clean, relapse, until I gave up on getting clean. By the time I went into jail the last time, I was using an eight-ball a day by myself," Myers said.
"Meth doesn't always make you feel good. It always made me numb, and that's why I used so much at the end. I had to use more and more to stay numb, and the thought of not being numb and having to face the hell that was my life terrified me."
Myers said she got paranoid and hallucinated. She thought her parents and the state of Utah were out to get her. Right before she went into jail, she had been up for two weeks and had not eaten for who knows how long, she said.
"I was so into my criminal activities that I thought that the FBI was in my basement watching me through the vents. I didn't have a basement to my apartment, but I can still remember how real I thought that was."
Myers is a felon on probation.
"I started out stealing from my family and progressed to whatever I could get my hands on. I used for six years and was a junkie the last two years of my use. I can't say one exact moment in my life was the turning point in my addiction," she said.
"It was many horrible, terrible months that made me realize that I couldn't live like this anymore. Then I was sent to jail for a few months, and it was such a horrible experience that I knew I would never go back."
Myers said addiction doesn't go away just because a person stops using. She said recovery worked for her because she got honest with herself.
"Of course, I am still tempted today. I still have dreams and see people, but for me, the pain of using is greater than the pain of staying sober, so I don't go back," she said.
"When I am having a really hard day, all I have to do is look at my kids and realize I almost lost them forever, and it helps."
Myers said she lost everything to meth -- her husband, jobs, children for the first three years of their lives, her freedom and her family and their trust and respect. She still has scars from the meth sores and has had extensive dental work done.
"I lost so much to meth, I could barely begin to describe it to you. But in all of it, I have found something, too, and it is the most important thing of all," she said.
"I found myself. I know who I am and what I want out of life. I like who I am. I have a new respect for everyone and everything in my life. Coming out of the darkness of meth is a second chance at life.
"Drugs aren't cool, and anyone who would ask you to use them doesn't care about you. There is so much I can't do right now because of my record. You have no idea how important the decisions you make right now will affect the rest of your life."
Johnson is proud of his daughter.
"Her eyes are clear. Her smile is back. Now we just visit the grandchildren," he said. "Our family actually gets along.
"As long as she is off drugs, we can deal with everything else. I'm so proud of her I can't stand it."
