Pubdate: Mon, 07 Jan 2002 Source: Daily Herald (IL) Copyright: 2002 The Daily Herald Company Contact: http://www.dailyherald.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/107 Author: David Tews Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/rehab.htm (Treatment) PUT MORE EMPHASIS ON TREATING DRUG ADDICTION The editorial on the Dec. 26 Opinion page titled "Novel drug treatment program" explained that special Drug Enforcement Administration agents will "arrest drug traffickers ... (and) work with the community to establish drug education and treatment programs to cut into the dealer's customer base." The budget for doubling this force of special agents to attack the drug problem nationwide - only $5 million. We agree that substance abuse treatment can be combined with probationary and other community-based services for an effective intervention, but the problem again comes back to lack of capacity for any meaningful long-term care. At Serenity House, the only extended-care facility of its kind in DuPage County serving adult men and women suffering from the disease of chemical dependence and substance abuse, we have nearly 100 men and women on our waiting lists for a residential bed on any given day. This year alone, we have been able to serve only 25 percent of the 1,200 individuals referred to us for residential treatment. We know firsthand that getting more people to seek treatment without the capacity to serve them will only result in a very temporary break in the cycle of addiction, not any significant reduction in the drug trade. Capacity is limited due to funding. Funding is limited due to competing needs. Political interests will determine the extent to which these competing needs are funded, and the battle lines already have been drawn between those who favor interdiction and incarceration vs. those who believe treatment is effective and more cost-efficient. As a result of these opposing views on how to address the substance- abuse problem, a serious effort is still not under way to provide sufficient funds to integrate effective treatment and education with enforcement programs. Since every dollar spent on treatment yields savings of up to $7 in reduction of drug-related crime and criminal justice costs, it would make sense to use these savings to increase treatment capacity. But until policy-makers accept the fact that substance abuse is a treatable disease and not merely bad behavior, they will continue to spin their wheels financing the construction of more prisons rather than addiction treatment centers. David Tews Director Serenity House Addison - --- MAP posted-by: Beth