Pubdate: Thu, 05 May 2005
Source: Allston-Brighton Tab (MA)
Copyright: 2005 Allston-Brighton Tab
Contact:  http://www2.townonline.com/allston/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3611
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/oxycontin.htm (Oxycontin/Oxycodone)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/rehab.htm (Treatment)

DPH CHIEF PROMISES NEW ANTI-DRUG DETAILS SOON

Under pressure from lawmakers reacting to widening alcohol and drug abuse 
epidemics, a top Romney administration official on Monday pledged to 
present the administration's strategic plan to a legislative committee in 
two weeks. Interim  Public Health Commissioner Paul Cote agreed to make the 
May 16 presentation to  the Legislature's new Committee on Mental Health 
and Substance Abuse during an  informational hearing that lasted more than 
six hours, at which there was  general agreement that abuse is spreading 
faster than government's ability to  successfully respond to it.

Cote said  the administration began work on its plan last fall. In the 
ensuing months,  administration officials have talked with treatment 
providers and experts, as  well as court, corrections and parole officials. 
According  to Department of Public Health data submitted to the committee 
this week,  Massachusetts ranks as one of the states with the highest unmet 
need for  treatment, has higher rates of adult binge drinking than the 
nation as a whole  and is seeing rising rates of opiate-related fatal 
overdoses and hospitalizations. Many ideas to address the problem surfaced 
at the hearing, including increased education and awareness, tougher 
prosecution of drug  dealers, additional funding for treatment programs, 
mandatory reporting to help detail addiction problems, and a larger role 
for parents in both listening to  their children and responding to their needs.

The hearing  also featured a new warning about potential federal funding 
penalties and one  lawmaker storming out after the administration confirmed 
the closing of a Boston  Harbor halfway house known as Project Rebound. 
Department  of Public Health officials confirmed that Project Rebound is 
scheduled to close,  sparking protests from South Boston lawmakers whose 
districts have been slammed by the impact of young people addicted to 
heroin and Oxycontin. Rep. Brian  Wallace, D-South Boston, unhappy about 
the confirmation, got up and left the  hearing.

Before  leaving, Wallace said young addicts he knows call short-term detox 
programs  "five-day spin cycles" and he said the 90 beds at Project Rebound 
on Long  Island, offering 90-day residential stays, are more effective. 
Rep. Martin  Walsh, D-South Boston, said the Democrat-controlled 
Legislature bears  responsibility for cutting substance abuse programs. 
"We've cut  the hell out of them," Walsh said. "Detox beds are our first 
line of  defense."

Department  officials said their budgets include enough money to support 
about 450 to 500  publicly funded detox beds, down from 900 beds during 
better budgetary times.  Cote explained after the hearing that Project 
Rebound did not make the cut  during a recent round of procurement. But he 
assured the committee he'd look  into it personally.

Committee  co-chairman Sen. Steven Tolman, D-Brighton, indicated he intends 
to address  Project Rebound in the upcoming Senate budget proposal and 
urged Cote to discuss  the issue with lawmakers "sooner rather than later." 
Tolman said  there's a need for more vigorous education campaigns about the 
dangers of  Oxycontin and heroin. "I think we have to be more effective at 
getting the  message out to kids that you can't try it, it's a suicide 
pact." Rep. David  Sullivan, D-Fall River, suggested another way of 
delivering substance abuse treatment. Sullivan said treatment coverage was 
not included in a mental health  parity law approved in 2000 because 
business and insurance industry leaders  objected to it. Now, Sullivan 
said, lawmakers should revisit the topic. He said  he hopes business 
leaders would be interested in such supporting coverage  because more 
addicts with jobs are missing workdays. Lawmakers  used the word "epidemic" 
repeatedly to describe the problem in Massachusetts,  particularly among 
young people. Norfolk County District Attorney William  Keating said heroin 
overdoses account for five deaths per month in that county.  With drugs 
harming everyone from National Honor Society members to the sons 
and  daughters of school and law enforcement officials, Keating said, a Web 
site he  launched - www.learn2cope.org - is attracting more and more 
parents to weekly  meetings where they share stories and information. 
Keating  said parents must be more involved. He said he has also listened 
to many  students, including middle schoolers.

"They're  telling me that their parents don't even want to know what 
they're doing," he  said.

Wallace  said some parents sanction marijuana and beer consumption by 
saying, "it's only  marijuana or it's only beer." Keating concurred. "'It's 
only marijuana' is a  generic term now," he said. Rep. John Scibak, D-South 
Hadley, said the problem  was once associated mostly with the "dregs of 
society," and may get more  attention from decision makers now that it's 
causing problems throughout  society.

Cote also  urged lawmakers to approve a $9.1 million substance abuse 
treatment funding  request made by Gov. Romney in January by the end of 
this fiscal year (June 30),  to both expand services and avoid being hit 
with a $5.4 million "maintenance of  effort" penalty in fiscal 2006.

"That's a  price that we just can't afford to pay," said Cote. Committee 
co-chairwoman Rep.  Ruth Balser, D-Newton, said that based on talks with 
House budget writers, she  is confident funding will be approved. Cote said 
the $9.1 million appropriation  would address some, but far from all of the 
nearly 40,000 people who Brandeis University researchers recently 
determined are seeking treatment at a specialty  substance abuse treatment 
facility, but can't access it, often to due financial  reasons.
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MAP posted-by: Beth