Pubdate: Sun, 04 Jun 2006
Source: Baltimore Sun (MD)
Copyright: 2006 The Baltimore Sun, a Times Mirror Newspaper.
Contact:  http://www.baltimoresun.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/37
Author: Lynn Anderson, Sun reporter
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/rehab.htm (Treatment)

SURVEY BACKS DRUG TREATMENT

Most Respondents View Programs As Prison Alternative For Addicts

Poll Shows Public Support For Expanded Drug Treatment

A recent poll suggests that a majority of Maryland  voters believe 
that treatment is a viable alternative  to prison for substance 
abusers and that the state's  alcohol tax should be increased to pay 
for expanded  drug treatment programs.

The Open Society Institute-Baltimore commissioned the  poll, which 
was released today. It comes as OSI  prepares to co-host a national 
conference on successful  drug treatment strategies that is slated to 
open this  week in Baltimore.

OSI hopes the poll's findings will persuade state  officials to 
allocate an additional $30 million  annually for addiction services 
statewide. Of the  total, Baltimore would get $15 million to serve an 
additional 3,500 addicts annually.

Treatment advocates estimate that Baltimore has about  60,000 addicts 
- -- the highest concentration in the  state -- and while the $15 
million would be a step in  the right direction, it would not solve 
the problem.

They say that if Baltimore's treatment network had the  capacity to 
serve 45,000 addicts a year, the city might  finally reach a "tipping 
point" in its battle against  addiction. In 2005, 23,320 addicts 
received treatment  in Baltimore, according to figures compiled by the city.

"We have come a long way, but at some point there is  still just not 
enough resources," said Diana Morris,  executive director of OSI, 
which is organizing the  "Cities on the Right Track: Building Public 
Drug  Treatment Systems" conference. "We need to get 
those  [additional] people into treatment. That's when we're  really 
going to start to see dramatic public health  benefits."

OSI founder and billionaire financier George Soros,  Baltimore Mayor 
Martin O'Malley and the mayors of  Denver, Providence, R.I., and 
Buffalo, N.Y., are  expected to attend the conference, as well as 
health  officials from cities across the nation.

Morris and other advocates said they are encouraged by  the results 
of the poll because they show that  residents are know-ledgeable 
about the benefits of  drug treatment, and they strongly support an 
expansion  of treatment opportunities.

OpinionWorks, an Annapolis firm, conducted the survey  of more than 
1,000 registered voters across the state.  According to its findings, 
69 percent of voters view  treatment as an effective way to help 
people overcome  their addictions, and 67 percent view drug treatment 
as  being more effective than incarceration. Of those who  said they 
knew someone with an addiction, 26 percent  said the person was 
unable to obtain any form of  treatment, and 39 percent said the 
person was unable to  gain access to publicly funded treatment.

While the number of slots in Baltimore drug treatment  programs has 
increased in recent years, advocates say  the city has not reached 
the goal of "treatment on  demand."

"There has been a huge push in the city to expand drug  treatment, 
and it shows," said Baltimore Health  Commissioner Dr. Joshua 
Sharfstein, who will present a  history of drug treatment in the city 
at the conference. "But there is clearly more to do."

Sharfstein said he was pleased to see that more than  two-thirds of 
those polled said they would support  several policy options to 
improve drug treatment  services, including expanded coverage by 
private  insurance companies and an increase of the state's  alcohol tax.

Past efforts to change the alcohol tax, which stands at  $1.50 per 
gallon for whiskey, 9 cents per gallon for  beer and 40 cents per 
gallon for wine, have failed, but  advocates said the timing could be 
right to bring the  question back to lawmakers in Annapolis.

"If there was political will, we could reach the 45,000  mark," said 
Adam Brickner, president of Baltimore  Substance Abuse Systems, an 
arm of city government that  oversees addiction treatment. "It's all 
a matter of  funding."

Morris said that a major reason OSI decided to hold the  conference 
was to spotlight some of Baltimore's drug  treatment successes. She 
said experts believe that  expanded drug treatment services in the 
city have  contributed to a 25 percent decrease in new HIV cases  and 
a 41 percent decrease in property crimes.

Brickner, who has been on the job for a little more  than a year, 
said the city's success with treating  addicts is one of the main 
reasons he decided to come  to Baltimore. He pointed to two programs 
- -- one that  works with drug-addicted women to help them 
reunite  with their children, and one that works with the 
court  system to expedite drug treatment for felons -- as  examples 
of the city's ingenuity.

"I can't wait to tell them what we are doing in  Baltimore because it 
is so innovative," said Brickner,  who will participate in the 
conference. "It's having an  impact."

The drug addiction solutions conference, which is  co-sponsored by 
the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of  Public Health and the city, 
will be held Wednesday at  the Tremont Grand Hotel and Thursday at 
the Johns  Hopkins School of Medicine. Information: 410-234-1091.
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MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman