Obama Drug Czar Pick Tied to Christian Rehab Linked to Contributor Charged with $3.5 Billion Fraud (Updated)

If his opposition to needle exchange and maintenance treatment for addictions isn't enough to convince you that Jim Ramstad isn't qualified to serve in Obama's cabinet as "drug czar," how about an earmark funding a Christian addiction "program" that uses outdated and abusive tactics and tries to "complete" Jews? Now add a connection between that program and a man who is charged with swindling investors out of $3.5 billion dollars.

That's right. Jim Ramstad was the sole sponsor of an earmark providing $235,000 to Minnesota Teen Challenge, a branch of a national anti-addiction group which believes that recruiting people into the Assemblies of God ministry will cure their addiction.

Yes, this is the same Teen Challenge that prompted George W. Bush to de-regulate faith-based addiction treatment in Texas in 1997. The program couldn't meet basic education standards required for qualified counselors, but Bush wanted it kept open.

After he became President, Texas actually re-regulated faith-based programs when the predicted spate of abuse and maltreatment that comes with unregulated facilities rapidly materialized.

Back then, Bush praised Teen Challenge for its practices, saying that while inside, "if you don't work, you don't eat." That's right: the program uses unpaid, forced labor backed by the threat of food deprivation as "addiction treatment."

Further, according to Teen Challenge, "Addiction is a sin, not a disease." Consequently, the program does not allow the use of medication.

Beyond this, it humiliates and attempts to "break down" people with addictions, using techniques that I have covered extensively elsewhere that are known to do more harm than good.

Since half of all addicts have a co-existing mental illness which often requires medication, banning it is not exactly evidence-based practice. And since there are medications that can help treat particular addictions, this is even more absurd. Given that Ramstad sponsored a bill to change the name of the National Institute on Drug Abuse to the National Institute on Diseases of Addiction, it is deeply troubling that he'd support an organization which views it as sin.

But his ties to Teen Challenge seem close. Here's a photo of him at a benefit* for Petters' foundation, which has given large donations to Minnesota Teen Challenge. He's standing next to Tom Petters, the campaign contributor now charged with bilking investors out of billions. Minnesota Teen Challenge was one of Petters favorite charities--and it has been hit hard by Petters' fall.

One wonders, however, why it needed 260 staff members to serve 400 clients annually.

Ramstad almost certainly knew nothing of Petters' fraudulent dealings--it's impossible for a politician to know everything about every contributor.

But his support for Teen Challenge shows a disregard for evidence-based treatment and either a willingness to abandon his deeply held beliefs about treating addiction as a disease or a failure to investigate what kinds of programs he funds. Neither possibility reflects well on his qualifications to serve as drug czar.

Obama has said that he supports the use of faith-based services where evidence exists that they are effective. Though Teen Challenge makes the usual anecdote and flawed research-based claims of high success rates, in fact, its approach is completely contrary to almost everything we know about what makes addiction treatment work. It seems unlikely, then, that Obama would favor it.

Also, unlike Bush, Obama does not support allowing faith-based groups to discriminate against members of other religions in hiring. Teen Challenge admitted in Congressional testimony in 2001 that it does this--and that it had successfully converted some Jews who entered the program, using the offensive term "completed Jews" for such converts.

Given that Ramstad has spent much time and energy seeking compassion for recovering addicts and championing the idea that addiction is a disease, not a moral problem, it is astonishing that he would fund and promote Teen Challenge. The fact that he does suggests--just like his opposition to needle exchange--that he does not know how to carefully evaluate data and vet addiction programs. President-elect Obama, are you listening?

[Much thanks to Ken Avidor of the Dump Bachmann blog for alerting me to this story]

P.S. Mainstream media where are you? A $3.5 billion fraud case isn't a national story?

*This originally read that the benefit was for Teen Challenge-- it was for Petters' foundation, which funds Teen Challenge amongst other causes.

UPDATE: 12/12/08:

Minnesota Teen Challenge has complained about my coverage of their organization and its connection to the Teen Challenge national organization and its practices. Their response is here. They basically say that they do not use the practices I've reported in here relation to the national organization.

Minnesota Teen Challenge says that it is independent--but here is its listing on the national teen challenge website:

Minnesota Teen Challenge also says that it does not recruit into the Assemblies of God Ministry--but if you go to the national website of the Assemblies of God, look under "adult ministries," you will find Teen Challenge listed as one of their ministries, with a direct link to the national teen challenge website, which, of course, links the Minnesota branch.

If Minnesota Teen Challenge is truly an independent organization that does not attempt to convert participants to a particular form of Christianity, why does it use the same name as an organization that does and allow them to claim a link on their national website?

If it is independent, why does it start its history like this, with the same founding story as the national group?

The application form for Minnesota Teen Challenge is very explicit about the Christian, faith-based nature of the program.

Here is a quote from Minnesota Teen Challenge's own newsletter [pdf] from 2001, "On October 3, 84 Minnesota Teen Challenge students were baptized, publicly confessing Jesus Christ as their Lord and personal savior. They were bound by sin, but each one has been transformed by the power of Jesus Christ."

That same issue contains an interview with a Teen Challenge participant who says he was previously a member of a Satanic cult. Here are a few excerpts:

Q: Which Halloween experience was the scariest?

A: "Different moons require different sacrifices. One Halloween, we received a letter from the head church in San Diego with blood and a crow's foot on it. This meant that there had to be a human sacrifice. The leader of our group walked over to an older, unimportant man and handed him a knife, saying:'You know what you need to do.' The man took the knife and split his stomach open, letting his intestines spill out on the ground. He screamed in agony, and as he fell to his knees he cried out, 'Satan, take me home!'

An editorial in the same issue says:

This Teen Challenge student's testimony of involvement in the occult is not an isolated incident...One of the goals of the Satanic church is to make evil cute and cuddly. They are accomplishing this goal through games such as Pokemon, Dungeons and Dragons, Majick, and Ouija boards...Much of what our society reads, watches, and listens to is demonically influenced. Teen Challenge combats these lies in the Name of Jesus.

Many national organizations have regional variations. But these excerpts suggest that Minnesota Teen Challenge participants are not exactly being given mainstream drug education and that their counselors and newsletter editors may have some difficulty distinguishing between truth and teen exaggeration.

Finally, if Minnesota Teen Challenge is as different from the national organization in philosophy and practices as it claims to be, why on earth would it use the same name?

Related -- Rich Scherber of the Minnesota Teen Challenge responds on HuffPost:
Setting the Record Straight About the Minnesota Teen Challenge

Comments

[harrymellon]

More BS from Obama. Rehab is just an industry designed to fleece the public. Stay out of my body and my life.

[zpsick]

I am also a MNTC graduate. The details in this blog are absolutely ridiculous. Clearly there is an anti-Christian bias at work here. Maia exemplifies why people don't trust the media. She should be fired for her reckless comments about a program that transforms lives.

[MichaelKleiber]

I recently attended MNTC and thank God that I did! The following statement picks apart and shows you that the person writting it had NO IDEA what he was talking about!

1. ("if you don't work, you don't eat." That's right: the program uses unpaid, forced labor backed by the threat of food deprivation as "addiction treatment." )
THAT IS THE MOST OBSURD THING I"VE EVER HEARD! I was a client at MNTC and this NEVER occurs!! Complete and utter LIES!
2. (Further, according to Teen Challenge, "Addiction is a not a disease." Consequently, the program does not allow the use of medication)
They DON"t say "addiction is a sin" ....they tell you that abusing your body is a sin......WHICH IS CLEARLY STATED IN THE BIBLE! THEY DO allow medication! They encourage you continue taking it if it"s helping you! I took antidepressants while I was there!
3. (Beyond this, it humiliates and attempts to "break down" people with addictions,)
IN NO WAY was I EVER humiliated while I was there! They DO offer to be baptised, but in NO WAY do they force you to do it! And in NO WAY do they force you into any certain denomination!
And as far as the Tom Petters thing goes....yes, he made donations to their program.....SO WHAT?! At least he was trying to do something right for a worthwhile program!

[petertaves1]

I'm a Minnesota Teen Challenge (MNTC) graduate. I am 33 and struggled with addiction since 19. I completed at least 4 drug treatments, including Hazelden, known as one of America's best. The longest sobriety I ever had was 6 months. Thanks to the help of MNTC, I've been drug free for over 3 years. I work for a construction firm in Minneapolis. We did close $1 billion in construction this year. We're the 5th largest construction firm and 11th largest family-owned business in the state. We've placed many MNTC graduates with full time jobs in 2008. Better than 80% of them are drug free, working full time and contributing citizens. We recruit applicants from many organizations. Some faith-based and some not. Monthly, we track job retention, criminal re-offense rates, promotions, raises and drug/alcohol relapse of our applicants. MNTC graduates make up at least 35% of our applicant pool. They rate substantially higher than those of other programs in ability to retain employment and job advancement. Their commitment and ability to learn/retain knowledge is very high. The success we've experienced from the traditional "12-Step" approach programs, is less than half that of MNTC. I am also a success story. Drug free for 3+ years, have a great job and am currently attending college (full time) where I have a 3.8 GPA.

[ksrehab]

I found another source of information for those who might be interested. They make it easier to find an appropriate addiction treatment and center that is best suited for the individual and/or the family"s needs.

[allent]

Do you think that Obama will be concerned about Teen Challenge - when he himself has requested money for Teen Challenge in Illinois?

http://www.catalyst-chicago.org/RUSSO/index.php/entry/637/Obama_Education_Funding_Requests

[allent]

Oh look, Obama requested money for Teen Challenge too! Check out this story:

http://www.catalyst-chicago.org/RUSSO/index.php/entry/637/Obama_Education_Funding_Requests
Should he be impeached before he even gets into office?

Maybe you should investigate before you report things like, "It seems unlikely, then, that Obama would favor it."

[Omidal]

I think DR. Howard Dean should head the FDA since he is a medical doctor. He did a great job as Democratic party Chairman. And he said that he did not want to continue to chair the party. Reward him with this job at least. I know he can make a difference in heading this big agency.

[KQuarksSuperKollider]

You make it sound like he was picked as drug czar, which has not occurred yet.

[QueenOfViolets]

This is how Obama's going to screw up 2012. He's going to make Ralph Nader relevant again by caving to the far right on drug policy just like Clinton did.

It was Bill Clinton who kept Al Gore out of the White House by putting Gore in the position where he had to pander to those Drug Free America loonies. Ralph Nader got a lot of votes when Al Gore claimed to believe in a "Drug Free America" during the 2000 convention.

We can't keep prisons drug free and Al Gore's going to make the whole country drug free? Puh-leeze!

Obama looks like he's heading straight for that cliff too. Look at Michigan, where medical marijuana won more votes than he did.

Is Obama capitalizing on that by making those Michigan voters who voted for medical marijuana feel validated and protected?

Hell no -- he's sending the exact opposite message, by appointing the head of the losing campaign to his drug policy transition team.

He's sending Michigan voters a big fat middle finger, that's what he's doing.

[jcwtts1]

Wow, a little revised history here. The reason Al Gore lost is that he lost his home state. Tenn. has never, nor will they ever support legalizing drugs. Your view of the world is wildly off. I won't continue but will argue Obama is calling the tune not this guy. And the headline is offensive. Obama appoints man tied to group linked... seriously that is a three step removal. Better headlines please.

J

[harrymellon]

Right On!!! Finally someone with a brain on this blog.

[Oldchef]

I remember Obama replying to a question during the primaries about drug policy, where he said that he supports a "science-based" approach. If this is true, all relevant science points to decriminalization. On another note, if pot were legalized like alcohol and cigarettes and a federal tax applied, it would surely go a long way towards easing the budget deficit, by tax collections and eliminating federal and state budget charges for locking up non violent smokers.

[mom2sons]

I will go to change.gov also and voice my complaints. Please stop picking people who are tainted in any way into your administration. We need someone here who is proactive and is up to date with what's going on. No more, you can be cured......whatever. If anything can bring me disappointment is that addicts and addiction treatment programs have been given the short end of the deal here for too long. This makes me very, very, very upset. This man seems to only give lip service to the suffering of people with addiction issues. With HIV among black women rising faster than any other group, please don't place someone in a position who doesn't know what the hell the are doing!!!!!

[Maia Szalavitz - Huffpost Blogger]

Just wanted to thank everyone for posting! Also, to the person who asked about the info on Ramstad's opposition to maintenance, earlier versions of the "parity" bill explicitly *excluded* coverage for maintenance!!!!!! So, while it would have expanded coverage for everything else related to addiction and mental health, it would have cut access to the most proven addiction treatment we have!

Link is http://www.methadonetoday.org/v4_n07.htm

[Frazier3607]

This mainstream media outlet HAS covered the Petters case extensively. Go here for dozens of stories: www.startribune.com/petters

[schatsie]

wow, to 260 staff to serve 400 people for how many days.... That is a lot of staff. Weird. that is like the charity that sponsored the Bush Inagural at the Mandarin...Collecting tax deductible money for 20 years with NOTHING TO SHOW FOR IT...