NEW PUBLIC MOOD

Changing The Emphasis To Drug Treatment

'The United States, year after year, blames us. Why?"

Mexican President-elect Vicente Fox is sounding a now-familiar and wholly
justifiable theme when it comes to drug trafficking. Our nation must do
something about its insatiable appetite for illegal drugs, because that's
the underlying cause of the drug trafficking, not only in Mexico but
throughout the world.

The American people understand that more must be done to reduce the demand
for drugs. Californians voted overwhelmingly for Proposition 36, a flawed
ballot measure that promised increased spending on drug treatment while
essentially decriminalizing some drug crimes. Voters in other states have
passed similar initiatives. Meanwhile, many local criminal justice systems
throughout the nation are embracing increased drug treatment as a way to
prevent crime, based on rock-solid research showing that most criminals are
substance abusers and that treating substance abuse reduces crime.

Now, a national effort has begun. This week, the federal Center for
Substance Abuse Treatment unveiled an ambitious, visionary plan to revamp
treatment in this country. "Changing the Conversation: A national plan to
improve substance abuse treatment," begins with the inexcusable fact that
while up to 16 million Americans need treatment for alcohol and drug
addiction, only 3 million receive it.

The report contains guidelines and recommendations from experts across the
nation advocating increased federal, state and local funding for treatment
and establishing standard private insurance benefits for treating
addiction. It also outlines methods for referring addicts into treatment
when they're identified in health care, human services or criminal justice
systems. It recommends quality standards for treatment programs and ways to
reduce the stigma of addiction so more people will seek or accept
treatment. And it calls for more collaboration by people in the substance
abuse treatment field and in the recovery community. It's a call to arms
for treatment in America.

Unfortunately, while the American people might understand the importance of
treatment, most politicians remain ignorant about it. Among lawmakers in
Washington and state capitals, support for increased drug treatment is
virtually nonexistent. Dr. Herbert Kleber, one of the foremost experts on
treatment and the co-founder of the National Center on Addiction and
Substance Abuse at Columbia University, calls it a "bipartisan failure."
Politicians refuse to support increased funding for treatment, either
because there's no active constituency for it or because they simply don't
understand it.

That's ironic, because much of the research showing that drug treatment
works comes from government agencies that are funded by federal and state
legislators.

We hope that when Vicente Fox talks to U.S. senators and representatives,
he will remind them of their responsibility to fund drug treatment in order
to reduce the demand that's creating havoc on both sides of the border.
Maybe he could distribute copies of "Changing the Conversation" whenever he
meets a U.S. lawmaker. There must be some way to get American politicians
to support a cause that the American people have already embraced.