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COLLEGE HOSTS ILLICIT DRUG CONFERENCE

Trinity hosted "The Illicit Drugs - Burden and Policy" conference last weekend at Mather Hall as a multidisciplinary effort to educate individuals about the many facets of the drug problem in the Hartford area with a focus on current setbacks with resources, ineffective drug policy and the inefficiency of current solutions.

The two-day event brought together "law enforcement groups, [individuals from] state agencies [and non-profit organizations], state and city representatives, and national experts with creative talents to meet the drug scourge head on," said an official from the City of Hartford.  Social workers discussed more effective ways of treatment, and recovering addicts personally expunged on challenges they faced in recovery and how current laws delayed their progress.  The conference tried to include all the relevant viewpoints for this discussion.  Student representatives were even present to speak about the experiences of youth.  This assortment also included church leaders and concerned citizens.

The conference was valuable and personal to the residents of Hartford, because there are a significant number of disrupted neighborhoods in the capital; the drug problem is destroying what the city is trying to build up, explained Mayor Eddie Perez in his speech to attendees.  Mirelle Friedman, Executive Director of the Capital Area Substance Abuse Council, complemented this by indicating that Hartford is the second poorest medium-sized city, after Brownsville, Texas, with a population of 124,848 and a mean income of $13,428.  Hartford is the seventh most violent medium-sized city in the nation and has the highest rate of minorities ( 93 percent ) in New England.  Ivan Kuzyk, an independent researcher, added that 64 percent of 24-year-old males have been arrested in the last five years.

Perez commented on the variety of participants that created a unique atmosphere of open discussion with a wide range of viewpoints.  Although there were formal speakers with a purely objective and educational motive, the conference was focused on promoting dialogue, and speakers were interrupted with applauses of approval or sometimes angry hecklers.  The question and answer sessions were also filled with a range of individuals, some of whom expressed their approval at an idea for change, while others challenged and criticized the speakers' advocacies.

Speakers and discussions brought to light significant and newly arising problems with drug policy, correctional institutions, and treatment opportunities, with their collective goal focused on ways that communities and policy makers can reverse these worrisome trends.  Robert Painter, the Minority Leader for the City of Hartford and the organizer of the conference, emphasized the activist approach of the conference, which was strengthened by bringing together this extremely diverse but motivated group together in a common place to spur positive change.

Scarlett Swedlow, the Executive Director of Students for a Sensible Drug Policy, explained "there is more hope on the local level," because it is a more realistic approach than national legislation, and the social effects of these new ideas will also be more quickly evident.  Swedlow also suggested that local activism can be an extremely effective model for others.

The City of Hartford, and specifically Painter, presented and organized the conference, while Trinity provided space ( the Washington Room ), as well as food and staff.  Trinity's interest in this issue is important as a mode of outreach to the community and also as a way to create a safer environment for students when they explore Hartford.

At the end of the conference, there were breakout sessions in which participants created a concrete plan as to what the next steps should be to respond to this epidemic.  The focus was on policies, effective treatment, and youth.

A large and divisive issue during the conference was about how to deal with prisons and punitive laws.  Theresa Lantz, the Commissioner of the Department of Corrections ( DOC ), changed the mission statement of prisons from one focused on security and order to also emphasizing successful reintegration for past offenders.  She indicated that 85 percent of persons in correctional facilities have substance abuse history but only 26 percent are receiving some sort of treatment, and this still costs around $11 million per year.  She is attempting to make prisons more effective, but the constant reentry of offenders suggests that the root problem is not being addressed.

Opponents argue that this ineffectiveness costs taxpayers an inconceivable amount of money.  Maureen Price-Boreland, Executive Director of Community Partners in Action indicated that maintaining a prisoner for one year costs an average of $27,700 without any special programs, and the cost rises to the mid-$30,000s with specific programs, almost equal to the tuition for Trinity College.

Roger Goodman, the Director of the Drug Policy Project and an attorney from King County, Washington, and suggested that instead of detaining law-breakers, the DOC should immediately shift them to social services that focus on solutions.  This way the money used to incarcerate criminals can be transferred to make the services more effective.

The lack of focus on recovery is also evident in that users are eight times more likey to overdose right after getting out of prison than at any other time in their life, said Robert Heimer, an Associate Professor at Yale University.

Michael Askew, Peer Service Coordinator for the CT Community for Addiction Recovery and a recovering addict, said "the prison system closes doors to people who need it most." When people continue to reappear in court due to a drug problem, judges just keep re-incarcerating, rather than trying to address the root problem, he continued.

The problem is so severe, because "addiction is a complex process with social, personal, and biological factors" that takes an extraordinary amount of effort and patience to be rid of, explained Ronald Fleming, the Clinical Director Alcohol and Drug Recovery Centers.  It is often compounded with other problems, such as cross-addiction and mental illness.

Askew suggested that a different approach is needed to address all the complex issues of addiction.  He said that compassion, helping people to believe in themselves, and getting them receptive would be successful.  He also stressed the importance of church involvement, especially with the black community.

Over five speakers emphasized education and housing as primary needs for success, and these seem to be the most important and unfortunately difficult barriers to overcome.  Education has shown in statistical studies to be the most important factor in staying off drugs by increasing self-respect and decision-making skills, explained Friedman.  Price-Borland added that less than 2 percent of incarcerated persons have had some exposure to college and a strong majority has not finished high school.

Swedlow also indicated that a felony nullifies the possibility of federal financial aid for education.  Housing is important in order to get users off the street and help to alleviate the pressure that often leads people to use drugs.  Providing for necessities allows the user to focus more on recovery, limit temptation to relapse.

Goodman suggested that Housing First initiatives be enacted.  In New York City, in a project called Common Ground, the city bought apartment buildings and filled it with users, just for the purpose of getting them off the street; as is expected, there was significant opposition to this, because it concentrates drug users in a single place.

A setback of current laws with these issues is that history of a felony highly complicates assistance in housing and acquiring jobs, said Fleming.  Price-Borland suggested that we must include businesses in this dialogue, because the hiring of criminals will become a real issue as more people circulate out of the DOC, "businesses must learn to embrace this," she said.  The current laws in place contradict and limit efforts to reintegrate past offenders to be law-abiding citizens.

Barriers to effective policy and services, however, are due to a difficulty in legislation.  Attorney David Biklen suggested that legislators must appeal to their constituents as being "tough on crime," rather than "smart on crime." During research studies, there is also pressure to not be truthful in committees if criticizes the current system.  Finally, treatment communities do not explain treatment to policy-makers effectively, and they do not have consensus as to what is the best treatment.  This gives legislators an unclear message for how they should act.

Other barriers are that there is a significant lack of communication between the cities in Connecticut.  A concerned citizen explained that there are 169 municipalities in the state, but there is no county leadership to bring all the cities together.  An effective way to increase cooperation would be to break down this regionalization.

Numerous speakers also advocated the reinstatement of Drug Courts in Hartford, designed for non-violent drug offenders.  Judge Jorge Simon of the New Haven Drug Court explained that their creation was meant to alleviate the pressure on the prison system.  These courts are specific to the needs of drug abusers and refer offenders to services like inpatient treatment, but there is a significant shortage of resources for them to be very effective, Simon said.

Other ideas floated throughout the conference, as well.  Goodman discussed the idea of community policing as being more effective, because the officers would be able to identify with the neighborhoods more.  Price-Borland suggested that family support systems must be strengthened, because families become worn out from dealing with an addicted individual for such a long time.  She also suggested the need to change media portrayal, because it shows communities in a discouraging way that reinforces depressive attitudes.

Controversial ideas were strong throughout the conference, as well.  Jack Cole, from Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, argued that the drug war is failing miserably and that the United States should cut its losses and legalize drugs; every year, the US loses $69 billion in this effort.  Violence and criminal behaviors are also a result of the illegality of drugs.  By legalizing it, excise taxes alone would produce billions of dollars.

Mark Kinzly of Yale University expressed the need for needle exchange programs to decrease outbreaks of HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis B and C.  Since addiction is a chronic disease that takes time to cure, society's role should be to minimize the dangers associated with it.  He gave empirical evidence on the increased safety resulting from needle exchange.

Finally, Heimer discussed the extremely controversial issue of heroin maintenance programs, which have been implemented in Switzerland and the Netherlands.  It is especially relevant since Friedman indicated that heroin is now equal to crack cocaine as the biggest problem in Hartford.  These centers would be a place for individuals to use heroin.  Heimer suggests that in its pure form, heroin is very cheap.  These clinics would only administer pure heroin at a price of five dollars per day, rather than the hundreds of dollars that users currently spend.  This would eliminate crime that is associated with street prices and would be safer because there would be no danger of purchasing heroin mixed with other drugs.