Pubdate: Tue, 17 Apr 2001
Source: Rutland Herald (VT)
Copyright: 2001 Rutland Herald
Contact:  http://rutlandherald.nybor.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/892
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/rehab.htm (Treatment)

COMBATING HEROIN

The increasing use of heroin in Vermont has spawned a growing demand for
expanded drug addiction treatment programs for both youths and adults in
Vermont. It is noteworthy that one of the loudest voices promoting
treatment for addicts is the voice of law enforcement.

Rutland Police Chief Anthony Bossi and other chiefs from Rutland County
have sounded the warning that the police alone are not capable of
curbing the burgeoning use of heroin. The police are on the front lines
of the battle against drugs; they are familiar with the people and the
terrible pathology that keeps them in its grip. They understand the
futility of a purely punitive response to the pull of drugs. They have
watched people cycle in and out of prison, and they are forced to follow
the trail of crimes people commit in order to feed their habit.

The figures are inexact but shocking. Between 1998 and 2000 the number
of arrests by the state drug task force for heroin possession or sale
more than doubled - from 49 to 116. Those figures don't include arrests
by other police departments.

The number of Vermonters seeking treatment has also taken off. In 2000
the number was 357. During the first six months of the new fiscal year -
from July to December 2000 - the number was 329. Those figures don't
include Vermonters in private care or out of state. Six years ago the
Health Department estimated that 2,000 Vermonters used heroin or another
opiate. The doubling of arrests and treatment in the past year would
suggest the number of addicts may be 4,000 or higher.

The increase is due in part to the low price and ready availability of
heroin. Law enforcement officials say trafficking in Vermont is not
principally the work of large organized rings. Rather, it is often the
work of addicts from Springfield, Mass., or other cities who are able to
buy a small amount at a low price, bring it to Vermont, and sell it at
five times the price they paid. And even after the price is quintupled,
it remains inexpensive for Vermont addicts.

Addicts who come into police custody often acknowledge their
helplessness and express the wish for some kind of treatment that will
help them get free of their addiction. One mother at a hearing held in
Rutland by Sen. Patrick Leahy described how her son, a heroin addict who
was in prison, was afraid to be released from prison because there were
no treatment alternatives available to him.

The plan being pushed by law enforcement officials and others calls for
the creation of a drug court, with a pilot program in Rutland.
Defendants with a drug problem would enter treatment as an alternative
to prison. But in order to make the program work, the state and region
would have to develop the necessary treatment programs.

The state Office of Alcohol and Drug Abuse relies in part on federal
grants that are expected to dry up. It will be up to policymakers and
legislators to take full responsibility for making drug treatment a
priority in future budgets. The state is playing catch-up on the issue
of drug treatment. Now drugs have caught up with us.
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