Pubdate: 3 Sep 1999
Source: Miami Herald (FL)
Copyright: 1999 The Miami Herald
Contact:  One Herald Plaza, Miami FL 33132-1693
Fax: (305) 376-8950
Website: http://www.herald.com/
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Author: Ana Acle, Herald Staff Writer

GOV. BUSH'S ANTI-DRUG PLAN STIRS VARIED REACTIONS

A national advocacy group on Thursday  welcomed the goals in Gov. Jeb
Bush's $500 million anti-drug program, but local experts disagree on
the best way to reduce the number of South Florida's drug addicts.

A Veterans Administration Medical Center physician said Miami-Dade
County alone could use all the 9,400 beds the governor wants to add
statewide. The Miami-Dade County director of rehabilitative services
suggested  increasing funding to treat the average person.

No specifics from Bush

Bush did not spell out specifics for South Florida, except to say he
plans to add three new law enforcement units in Central and South
Florida. More details will be announced in Miami and Tampa on Sept.
10, a spokeswoman for the governor said.

Nevertheless, the New York City-based Partnership for a Drug-Free
America -- whose anti-drug advertising campaigns have caught the
nation's attention -- lauded the governor's proposal as "aggressive"
and "bold." The state plan specifies a goal to reduce by half the
number of drug users statewide -- now estimated at 1.2 million people
- -- by 2005.

"I think that speaks to the seriousness of the plan," said Steve
Dnistrian, the group's executive vice president. "It's easy to put
words on paper, but when you put numbers with goals and time lines,
that speaks volumes.

"Comparatively looking at what other states are doing, this is
exceptionally comprehensive," he said. "You don't see a lot of states
putting drug treatment programs in their prisons."

Stop the demand

In order to stop the supply of drugs, Dnistrian said, one must stop
the demand. And in order to stop the demand, he said, one must treat
drug addicts at both  ends of the spectrum, from teens who start using
drugs to heavy users who wind up incarcerated.

The county has already been on the forefront by implementing drug
courts and prison treatment programs, said Dr. Carolina Montoya, a
clinical psychiatrist and director of the Miami-Dade County Office of
Rehabilitative Services.

"Governor Bush's efforts would be best served with the typical person,
the early user, not the person who reaches the criminal justice
system," Montoya said. "We certainly have to keep those efforts going,
but what has lost funding over the years has been the community-based
efforts."

In recent years, grants have been earmarked for women, children,
prisoners and homeless people with drug problems, Montoya she said.

"The plan would be good if money was earmarked for no one," she said.
This would better help the average person seeking treatment for crack
cocaine, the drug of choice among Dade addicts seeking help.

In the past year, Montoya's office made 16,000 referrals. Of those,
900 were directed to residential centers and 1,100 to prison programs.
(The numbers include repeat visits.)

Miami-Dade's need

Dr. Moraima Trujillo, chief of general psychiatry at the Veterans
Administration Medical Center, said she would like to see the state's
proposed 9,400 beds in Miami-Dade County alone.

Patients who find an open slot now don't stay long enough for proper
treatment, Trujillo said. The average patient stays four days instead
of several months for detoxification and then inpatient or outpatient
care.

"In my clinical experience, for them to say no to drugs, they must
stay clean for 12 months," Trujillo said.

Relapse occurs in as many as 50 percent of the patients.

In Broward County, Circuit Court Judge Melanie May headed a task force
that researched ways to help drug addicts in an effort  to reduce
crime. A primary focus, May said, was obtaining beds to treat addicted
convicts.

"We need a total of 307 and we have 178," she said, adding that the
Department of Corrections recently funded an additional 75, leaving a
deficit of 54.

That's just in the criminal justice system. Other people need
help.

At The Starting Place, a Hollywood drug treatment program for
adolescents between the ages of 9 and 18, there is almost always a
waiting list for the program's 40 beds and the 40 spots in day
treatment, said Mark Casale, associate director.

Casale said space is as much a premium as the additional
beds.

"It's not just a matter of saying go ahead and increase your bed space
and we'll solve the problem," he said. "It's a matter of facilities
having space."

Still, he applauded Bush's infusion of funding. "Everybody's excited
about it. It's a great opportunity. When was the last time this happened?"

Herald staff writers Julie Gallego and Shari Rudavsky contributed to
this report.
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