Pubdate: Thu, 29 Jun 2006 Source: Concord Monitor (NH) Copyright: 2006 Monitor Publishing Company Contact: http://www.cmonitor.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/767 Author: Marty Boldin, For the Monitor Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/opinion.htm (Opinion) DEADLY DRUG USE IS MAJOR ISSUE FOR STATE Re "N.H. overdose deaths skyrocket" on page B5 of the June 25 Sunday Monitor: As the amount and frequency of alcohol use increase, the physical ability to tolerate the drug also increases. Impairment and health problems logically ensue. The use of any illicit drug is a choice that places the user at risk for health and impairment problems. One terrible outcome is physical addiction, but a person can also abuse alcohol or other drugs one time and experience a life-altering impairment problem, like a car accident that takes a life. The state spends less money on alcoholism and drug abuse prevention than any other state in New England. Per capita, it is 46th in the union in spending on treatment and prevention. Logically, New Hampshire teens and young adults rank in the top five nationally for the amount of alcohol and marijuana they consume. High rates of alcohol and other drug use lead to addiction. Death from overdose is a logical result of addiction. Unfortunately, it is not the only toll of alcoholism and drug abuse. Dr. Thomas Andrew, the state's chief medical examiner, is to be commended for his attempt at yet another supply-side solution to drug abuse. Unfortunately, like the war on drugs, this solution will have a marginal effect. To address addiction, this state needs a three-legged stool. The first leg needs more support: increased law enforcement. The second leg is in disrepair: accessible alcoholism and drug abuse prevention and treatment programs for people across the age continuum. The last leg is missing altogether: a constituency that understands and acknowledges the existence and implications of alcoholism and drug abuse in our state. There are proven and effective ways to treat these problems, but people need to want to know about them. They need to know how to access them. One way to accomplish this kind of education would be to move a story about how the number of overdoses in our state is approaching the number of traffic-related deaths from page B5 to page B1 - or maybe even A1. (Marty Boldin lives in Concord.) - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake