Study shows we’re a nation of stalkers

By Rubén Rosario, TwinCities.com

A trinity of items incessantly clutter my desk and e-mail space: press releases, junk mail and reports.

The category often worth keeping or writing about is the last one. And I found a few good reports this week. They involve stalking, drug abuse and hate crimes. Hardly light reading, but noteworthy nonetheless.

So here goes:

STALKERS ‘R’ US:
From nasty e-mails and phone calls to showing up at the victim’s workplace or home, we are a nation of stalkers.

An estimated 14 out of every 1,000 U.S. residents 18 or older was a victim of nonfatal stalking during 2005, according to the largest survey of its kind conducted by the U.S. Justice Department’s Bureau of Justice Statistics.

The stalking survey also found:

- Not surprisingly, folks who were either divorced or separated experienced the highest rate of stalking victimization — 34 per 1,000 residents.

- Almost half of stalking victims reported at least one unwanted contact weekly and one in 10 reported being stalked for five years or more.

- One in four victims experienced online stalking in the form of e-mails or instant messaging.

- Females are at higher risk of being stalked than males.

- The risk of being stalked decreases with age as well as higher income levels. People ages 18 to 24 as well as those whose incomes were $35,000 or lower experienced the highest rate of victimization. People 50 or older and those making $75,000 or more experienced the lowest rates.

The report, available at ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/abstract/svus.htm, notes that prosecution of stalking varies from state to state because of differences in legal definition.

In Minnesota, harassment/ stalking, which can range from a gross misdemeanor to a felony, is governed by Statute 609.749. You can look it up, as well as stalking laws in other states, at the National Center for Victims of Crime Web site: ncvc.org.

Bottom line? Stalking is a cowardly, desperate behavior Be a real man, or a real woman. Move on. Do the right thing.

THE SKINNY ON DRUGS
Carol Falkowski is Minnesota’s undisputed, if unofficial, drug czar. She’s generated more than two decades’ worth of stinging annual reports on drug trends in the Twin Cities and statewide.

She did this first as a researcher for Hazelden. She continues to do so in recent years as director of the state Department of Human Services’ alcohol and drug abuse division.

Her report this week discloses that both locally and nationally, we may be in the beginning stages of another generational drug abuse shift between stimulant and depressant drug abuse.

To put matters in plain English, it’s down with uppers and up with downers.

Falkowski’s report, available at www.dhs.state.mn.us/adad, found that:

- Addiction treatment programs and emergency rooms in the Twin Cities report an increase in non-medical use of prescription narcotics and heroin.

- A record 1,187 patients at addiction treatment programs last year reported opiates other than heroin (mostly prescription narcotic analgesics or painkillers taken orally) as the primary substance problems. That figure represents a three-fold increase since 2002.

“Here and nationally, the abuse of prescription drugs is a problem of growing magnitude and concern,” Falkowski said.

“The public needs to know that the use of heroin and other strong narcotics — taken non-medically, even in pill form — are dangerous practices that can be not only addicting, but fatal.”

Bottom line: I don’t want to pay more through health care insurance premiums, illegal drug interdiction or incarceration for your decision to medicate yourself in pursuit of happiness or numbing a pain. I’d offer a hug and a shoulder, but I know it’s much more complicated than that.

But still, your abuse affects us all. Want to get a real high? Head to Wabasha and watch the eagles soar. Or stay home, abandon the self-centeredness, and take in the innate innocence of children, whether yours or others’. You were once one yourself. Muster the courage to tap into that and set things straight.

WHAT THE WORLD NEEDS NOW …
Two disturbing reports underscore troubling trends in hate-related crimes.

In “Confronting the New Face of Hate,” the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights cites the election of Barack Obama, the downturn in the economy and anti-immigrant fervor as contributing factors to a rise in hate crimes against Latinos as well as increased activism among white-supremacist groups.

The report, available at civilrights.org., noted that hate crime targeting Latinos rose between 2003 and 2007, the last year for which year-end FBI crime statistics were available.

“In one of the most disturbing developments of recent years, some anti-immigration groups, claiming to warn people about the impact of illegal immigration, have inflamed the immigration debate by invoking the dehumanizing, racist stereotypes and bigotry of hate groups,” the report states. “It is no coincidence that as some voices in the anti-immigration debate have demonized immigrants as ‘invaders’ who poison our communities with disease and criminality, haters have taken matters into their own hands.”

Meanwhile, the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs noted this week a disturbing uptick in gay-related hate crimes.

The group noted in a report available at ncavp.org.:

- 29 gay, lesbian and transgender persons were killed last year, the highest number of such slayings since 1999.

- The number of such killings last year was up 28 percent from the previous year.

The researchers speculated that emotionally charged debates on same-sex marriage, the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy and federal legislation that would ban employment discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity as possible flash points for the uptick in violence.

“The more visibility there is, the more likely we’re going to see backlash, and that’s exactly what we see here,” said Sharon Stapel, executive director of the New York City Anti-Violence Project, which coordinates the coalition.

Coalition officials, rightly so, say their figures are more accurate than those from law enforcement agencies; the FBI doesn’t record bias crimes against transgender people because gender identity isn’t covered by federal hate-crime law.

The current administration has taken significant notice of hate crimes, particularly in the wake of high-profile incidents such as the church ambush slaying of an abortion provider and the fatal shooting of a Holocaust Museum guard allegedly by an avowed white supremacist.

In fact, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder called for stricter hate-crimes legislation. The recent violence, Holder said, “reminds us of the potential threat posed by violent extremists and the tragedy that ensues when reasoned discourse is replaced by armed confrontation.”

Bottom line: When things go south, some of us look for scapegoats. It’s always a better trip to really dig in and look within ourselves.

We would rather find scapegoats than to construct the more complicated truth of our complicity. That’s what these reports confirmed for me this week.

Now you can turn to the horoscope, the comic pages or that romance novel you just can’t put down. It’s all good.