Pubdate: Tue, 24 Oct 2000
Source: Sacramento Bee (CA)
Copyright: 2000 The Sacramento Bee
Contact:  P.O.Box 15779, Sacramento CA 95852
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Author: Ed Fletcher
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SUMMIT TARGETS DRUG ABUSE

Participants vow to cooperate in creating unified battle plan

Normally they are on the front line fighting substance abuse throughout the
Sacramento region, but Monday nearly 300 of them gathered to help devise a
unified battle plan.

While officials estimate that one in 10 children born each year in
Sacramento County test positive for drugs or alcohol, the problem of
substance abuse is not talked about enough, said Paul Seave, U.S. attorney
for the Eastern District of California and chief organizer of the daylong
Anti-Drug Summit at the Convention Center.

Seave and a host of political leaders and public officials who attended the
summit pledged to get agencies fighting the problems to start talking to
one another.

The number of women who give birth to children while abusing drugs or
alcohol could be brought down if agencies that give prenatal care
communicated better, Seave said.

Those who work daily with people combating substance abuse, with public
officials sprinkled in, worked in groups of eight to identify the problems,
the barriers to solving the problems and solutions to the problems. The
results of the brainstorming sessions will be compiled to form a strategic
plan for the Sacramento region to combat substance abuse. That plan is
expected to be completed by the end of December.

James Copple, vice president and chief operating officer of the National
Crime Prevention Council, said it is important that each community create
its own plan.

"Because the communities are so different you get surprises. It's not just
about money. There is a lot of good science and research on what works but
we have a way to go," said Copple, who facilitated the brainstorming
sessions.

Jose Gonzalez, a summit participant, hopes the information will get where
it needs to go.

"One of my biggest concerns is that the information here won't filter down
to the people who need it," said Gonzalez, who runs Mi Casa, a 20-bed
recovery house.

During lunch, actor Richard Masur talked about his 30-year battle with
substance abuse and the lessons he has taken away from it.

"We mostly all learned at home that drugs and alcohol could change who you
were or change how you felt about who you were," said Masur, a past
president of the Screen Actors Guild.

One key to treating substance abuse is helping people deal with the
underlying pain they were trying to escape by using substances, Masur said.
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MAP posted-by: Eric Ernst