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Posted on Tue. Jul. 07, 2015 - 12:01 am EDT
COLUMN
Former judge offers sobering reminder that drug use can be a dangerous game
Rush to legalize pot may have unintended and tragic consequences, Scheibenberger says
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Maybe that’s because marijuana use remains illegal in Indiana despite church founder Bill Levin’s claim that “Mary Jane” is protected as both saint and sacrament under Indiana’s new religious-freedom law.
But former Allen Superior Court Judge Ken Scheibenberger, who retired last month as administrator of the city’s program to identify and close drug houses, fears that the growing acceptance of marijuana — 23 states have passed laws legalizing it in some form — will have consequences few are yet willing to acknowledge. But the 66-year-old Scheibenberger has no such reluctance, mostly because he is only too aware of how drug abuse can threaten careers and claim lives.
“I did it my way, and that was part of the problem. But I admit my mistakes,” Scheibenberger said, dressed in a Hawaiian shirt as he chased puffs of cigar smoke with a Mountain Dew. But it was not too long ago that he had a much different beverage of choice.
Scheibenberger was no stranger to notoriety and controversy even before Gov. Evan Bayh appointed him to the bench in 1991, occasionally making headlines as the attorney for the adult movie theaters and bookstores that dotted Fort Wayne at the time. But it was a 2004 incident at a downtown bar that forced him to confront an alcohol problem that had been building for some time — even though he refused to acknowledge it.
When some of his fellow judges learned that Scheibenberger had offered a breast-flashing court employee attending a birthday party $1 to do it again, they gave him a choice: seek a professional evaluation or face possible discipline. He ended up spending seven weeks at the Rush Behavioral Center in Chicago and hasn’t had a drink since, although he has been tempted three times — most recently when his mother, Marilyn, died last September.
So what does any of this have to do with marijuana? Scheibenberger’s life makes the connection, since his first temptation followed the devastating death of his 27-year-old son, Sam, from a cocaine overdose in 2007. “I wanted a drink so bad it hurt. I wanted to take away the pain,” he said.
It was his son’s death, in fact, that indirectly contributed to the cause of Scheibenberger’s second temptation: his defeat by Wendy Davis in a bitterly contested 2010 judicial election. Some opponents had tried to have Scheibenberger’s name removed from the ballot because he had been suspended for three days in 2007 after walking into another judge’s courtroom and confronting the man he believed had sold Sam the drugs, and although the effort failed, the damage had been done.
Losing a son to drugs, Scheibenberger said, is one reason he accepted the Police Department job to take calls from people wanting to report drug houses. He often accompanied police on the raids conducted as a result.
“I was sitting home (after losing the election) and got bored. I didn’t take the job for the money (about $42,000 per year) but because it was an opportunity to do something about drugs. It’s a passion,” he said. But after tapping the keg at the annual Germanfest celebration last month as the event’s committee president — and never taking a drop — Scheibenberger decided it was time to leave a job slated for eventual elimination.
But even though he’s no longer tracking drug houses, Scheibenberger is still concerned about drugs. Marijuana is much more potent than in years past, he said, making it even more of a “gateway” to harder and more dangerous drugs. A bill to decriminalize marijuana was introduced in the Indiana Legislature last session, and such efforts are likely to grow as fast as a pot plant under a sun lamp.
As for those judges who forced him to confront his problem, Scheibenberger said, “They did me a favor, although I didn’t think so at the time.” He’s helping others by remaining active in Alcoholics Anonymous, which may be one reason he understands that you don’t have to drink or abuse other drugs to have a good time.
But Scheibenberger hopes to help in other ways, too, which is one reason his black robe may not be mothballed for good.
“I never rule anything out,” he said. “I miss being able to contribute to the safety and welfare of the public.”
kleininger@news-sentinel.com
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