European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - December 22, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Sunday december 22, 1991 the stars and stripes a Page 25battling drugs it s character. This is a character disease Yankees Relief Pitcher Steve Howe appears with his attorney Pat Sherlock Leftin . Magistrate court Friday at Kalispell Mont. Howe s team friends support him by Hal Bock a sports writer sex Aba Star John Lucas who has battled the demons of drugs As a user a recovering addict and a Counselor watched sadly As first Dexter Manley then Steve Howe had their names linked again with drugs. Manley retired from football last week after failing a drug test. Howe suspended from baseball five times for involvement with drugs and alcohol pleaded innocent Friday to a Federal charge of possessing cocaine. Other athletes like Otis Nixon Roy tar Pley and Micheal Ray Richardson have gone through rehab returned to productive careers and then went Back to drugs. A some of the things that happen when addicts begin to get their lives Back together is they forget where they came from Quot said Lucas who runs a recovery Center in Houston. A you have to work on yourself on a continuing basis it Means going inside yourself and making sobriety the first priority. When an addict goes Back it Means sobriety is no longer the most important thing. A addiction is like a car Wash. You can go in to get clean and then you can go out and get dirty again. You have to continuously Wash yourself. The problem is not drink or drug. Its character. This is a character  Lucas said returning to the celebrity lifestyle of a sports hero should not interfere with an addict staying clean provided that is the athletes no. 1 priority. A you can do it if its the most important thing in your life a he said. A somewhere Down the line sobriety stopped being the most important thing. Recovery has to be first and everything else second. A without recovery you have nothing. Its time consuming and hard but the payoff is a i did no to drink  a and that Lucas said is no Small accomplishment. A the hardest thing is you can to get this gift from someone else a he said. A you have to give it to yourself. It Wasny to the most important thing to  or. Arnold Washton an expert on drug abuse who has treated a number of athletes at his new York Institute said the problems of Manley and Howe provide important insight into addiction. A their tragedy is testimony to the awesome Power of cocaine and the real consequence of the drug a he said. A the problem is they get addicted and Are strapped with a Long term problem. It looks like it goes away and then it comes Back full  Washton said lifestyle problems interfere with recovery even when addicts agree to attend alcoholics Anonymous meetings and other support groups. A a they re in treatment for 30 Days or 60 Days and everybody applauds and acts As if they re cured a he said. A then they go Back to their $1 million or $2 million salaries and travelling from City to City. No recovery is possible while they re playing. Going to one a meeting Here and then another one there does no to get it done. A a they re right Back in the situation that fuelled it in the first place the unrealistic grandiose existence shielded from the consequences of daily life. I Call it extended  Lucas said the trouble comes when an athlete finishes rehab. A the thinks Pooh in a there a a he said. A a he a nowhere. Life is a journey. He needs a program for  a society sees the Money and the games a Lucas said. A it does no to see what makes a player tick. You be got to look beyond the Jersey. There a a person in there with fears and problems and  and sometimes with an addiction. Kalispell Mont. Apr new York Yankees Pitcher Steve Howe suspended from baseball five times because of involvement with drugs and alcohol is in trouble again facing a Jan. 30 trial on a Federal charge of possessing cocaine. Howe pleaded innocent Friday before . Magistrate h. James Oleson. The magistrate accepted the plea and released Howe on his own recognizance. However he ordered the reliever to stay in the area and to submit to weekly urine tests for cocaine  to a complaint filed by the drug enforcement administration Howe gave a Dea informant $100 to Purchase one Gram of cocaine about 10 . Thursday in Kalispell. At about 2 30 p.m., the complaint said Howe received the cocaine and was immediately arrested. He was jailed overnight on a state felony complaint before being taken before the magistrate on the Federal charge which is a Misdemeanour. If convicted Howe faces a maximum sentence of one year in jail and a $1,000 Fine. Jerry Cooley a Federal probation officer told Oleson he spoke with Leonard Kleinman chief operating officer of the Yankees and was told the team would support Howe. A this employment is intact a Cooley said. A the has a contract for 1992 and is expected to be there at Spring  he said the Yankees promised to conduct their own Independent urine tests on Howe and notify Federal authorities of any positive results for cocaine. A we Are aware of the charges being brought against Steve Howe a Yankees general manager Gene Michael said. A we also know that Steve has pleaded innocent and the Yankees stand behind him. Our support goes out to Steve and his family. He did a Superb Job for us in 1991 with his  Kleinman said the team did not anticipate the reliever would face another ban and was not looking for a replacement Pitcher. A we Haven to even discussed that Possi Bilty and really feel that possibility is very very Remote a Kleinman said. A we done to know enough about anything going on. We know Steve Howe is a Good person a Good Christian a Good family Man. We have our Faith in Steve Howe that this matter will revolved  Howe a agent was surprised that the Media was saying Howe a in Mychack was Over. A a in a just appalled that so Many people Are writing that Steve Howe is  agent Richard Moss said a a he a been charged with a Misdemeanour and pleaded innocent. I think we should All try to pretend that this is  Howe a lawyer Pat Sherlock said the Pitcher was a handling it Well. He a not worried. He a not suicidal or anything like  Sherlock also said he believed Howe would win acquittal in trial. A i think the evidence will show that he did not actually have this in his Possession a in his hand in his pocket in his shirt a the lawyer said. Howe was Calm and composed throughout his court appearance speaking Only to enter his plea a not  his wife Cindy sat quietly behind Howe As he entered his plea during the 20-minute appearance. The Howes have lived near the Mountain resort Community of Whitefish North of Kalispell for about five years. Friends described Howe As Active in the Valley View foursquare Church and said he hosts a Bible study group in his Home every other wednesday night. A we arc behind Steve 100 percent even if he has made a terrible mistake a if he has made a mistake a Church Secretary Billie Beck told the Kalispell newspaper the daily inter Lake. Cindy Howe attended a Church Bible study group thursday night while Howe was in jail Beck said. Following his numerous drug and alcohol problems Howe 33, was reinstated to the major leagues in Early 1990 after a 3 i year absence. At the Lime commissioner Fay Vincent a office said Howe would be banned if he tested positive for cocaine use again. A a in a heartbroken a Vincent said thursday night after Howe a arrest. A this is terrible news. In a totally surprised and shocked. Its really disturbing if its True. If its True its a great  Ilowe was National league Rookie of the year in 1980 with los Angeles helped pitch the dodgers to the 1981 world series championship and was an All Star in 1982. But his Talent was not enough to overcome his problems with drugs and alcohol. He spent five weeks at a drug rehabilitation Center in the fall of 1982 and was suspended twice during the 1983 season. Howe sat out the entire 1984 season after a one year suspension imposed by then commissioner Bowie Kuhn and was later released by Minnesota in 1985. He tested positive in l9kf> while at class a san Jose and was twice suspended by commissioner Peter Ueberroth. Last month Howe signed a ,uo0 contract for the 1992 season that included incentives that could have made the Deal Worth $2.3 million. He made $500,000 last season