Pubdate: Sun, 29 Jul 2001
Source: Rutland Herald (VT)
Copyright: 2001 Rutland Herald
Contact:  http://rutlandherald.nybor.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/892
Author: David Moats

VERMONT CAN BE MODEL FOR NATION IN DRUG TREATMENT

The helicopter circled overhead, and the police closed in. In the 
end, the raid on July 18 resulted in the arrest of three people for 
dealing crack cocaine in Rutland. Then last week police arrested four 
more suspected dealers.

Meanwhile, the Brandon Planning Commission reached a decision 
rejecting a plan to establish a drug treatment center for juveniles 
on the grounds of the former Brandon Training School. Brandon 
residents were adamant in their opposition, mainly because the new 
facility would be next to a large day-care center.

That's how the war on drugs is going.

Police say the increased incidence of burglary in the state is the 
result of the dramatic rise in the use of heroin. Heroin is cheap, 
and addicts can make money by making a buy in Massachusetts and 
bringing the stuff up to Vermont. Mental health officials estimate 
there may be as many as 200 or 300 heroin addicts in Rutland County 
alone.

At the same time, heroin is a tiny part of the problem of alcohol and 
drug abuse. Only about 4 percent of the admissions for treatment last 
year came from people addicted to heroin, according to the Office of 
Alcohol and Drug Abuse. Cocaine and crack cocaine are still a 
problem, but by far the most widely abused substance is still alcohol.

Police admit they are helpless. They are not helpless in catching 
people and putting them in jail. But they are helpless in stemming 
the tide of crime unless adequate treatment is available for drug and 
alcohol abuse.

And that takes us to Brandon. The program proposed for Brandon would 
have focused on juvenile drug addicts, for whom there are no 
facilities in the state.

The Brandon proposal was probably doomed from the start. Asking to 
place a drug treatment center next to a day-care center is asking for 
trouble. But the rejection in Brandon highlights how difficult it is 
to take even those steps everyone agrees must be taken.

State officials have taken other halting steps. The Legislature 
passed, and the governor grudgingly signed, a bill authorizing the 
use of methadone in hospital settings for the treatment of heroin 
addiction.

But methadone has provoked its own tempest of protest. Advocates say 
it is a necessary component of a comprehensive treatment program. 
Opponents say it is likely to bring addicts to towns where methadone 
is available.

This year the House passed a bill to establish a drug court as a 
pilot project in Rutland County. The drug court would divert drug 
offenders away from jail and toward the treatment programs they need. 
The bill will be taken up next year by the Senate, which will have to 
make sure the treatment programs are in place to make a drug court 
work.

Vermont has an enormous opportunity. Awareness of the drug problem is 
keen, and recognition of the need for treatment programs is widely 
shared. All that is needed is for the Dean administration and 
legislative leaders to summon the will to make a comprehensive drug 
and alcohol treatment program a high priority for the state.

Drug and alcohol treatment is available, according to Mark Monson, 
president and CEO of Rutland Mental Health Services, but state 
reimbursement rates have been flat and residential and in-patient 
care is lacking because insurance companies are reluctant to pay for 
it. The result is that the state's mental health centers are losing 
money on alcohol and drug treatment, which makes it harder for them 
to expand their services to those in need.

One of the obstacles to a comprehensive attack on drugs and alcohol 
is the feeling that alcoholics and addicts have brought their 
troubles on themselves and they need to fix their problems themselves.

That is the attitude that has brought us to our predicament. And the 
police are telling us that if we want to change the present pattern 
of abuse, crime, jail, and then more crime, we have to try something 
different.

Vermont has the chance to show the world that an enlightened society 
does not write off those in trouble with drugs and alcohol. We 
recognize that our friends and loved ones sometimes number among them.

Not everyone can be saved by enlightened policy and compassionate 
treatment. The potential for tragedy is an indelible part of the 
human story. But Vermont could be a model for the nation if we were 
willing to devote our resources and the talent of caring people to 
healing those who have wandered down the blind alley of drug and 
alcohol abuse.

Our children need a place to get well. And drug abusers who run afoul 
of the law need the chance to get their act together.

It's a commitment we ought to be willing to make to put our house in order.
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MAP posted-by: Kirk