Montana Plans for 120-Bed Meth Facility

HELENA, Mont. – A new methamphetamine treatment facility in Montana could be significantly larger than initially planned by state legislators.

During the 2005 legislative session, lawmakers gave corrections officials permission to finance and build a treatment center. They recommended that the facility be large enough to house 40 wards.

However, corrections officials have ramped up their initial plans and are now considering a facility that could have room for 80 men and 40 women. The program could include a nine-month lockdown treatment program and six months of pre-release treatment, followed by counseling to prevent inmates from falling back into the grip of methamphetamine addiction. If the plan proceeds without delays the facility could be open by fall 2006.

Inmates incarcerated because of meth-related crimes continue to clog Montana’s prison system. DOC officials hope the new facility will reduce the number of meth addicts in prison. The American Civil Liberties Union has praised the department for its decision to focus on rehabilitation, but the plan has drawn fire from the Rimrock Foundation, one of Montana’s largest drug rehabilitation centers. Rimrock’s director says the state’s program is a mistake that will allow companies that contract with the corrections department to expand. Foundation officials think the state should focus on treatment before incarceration.

The effect of methamphetamine abuse has hit close to home for the law Montana enforcement officials in recent months, with the drug taking one of their own in August. Probation officer Justin Toland, 25, who was allegedly addicted to meth, exchanged gunfire with fellow probation officers and Billings police officers before he was shot in the chest and died.