LAWMAKERS TOLD OF NEED FOR DRUG TREATMENT OPTIONS

Oklahoma needs twice the number of beds it has to treat substance abusers,
members of a House subcommittee were told Thursday.

While he didn't leave with any promises of assistance, a state agency
official and former senator called it an important day for the Legislature.

"This is the first time we've gathered as a legislative body to talk about
substance abuse treatment in this fashion," said Ben Brown, deputy
commissioner at the Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse
Services and a former senator.

Members of the House appropriations and Budget subcommittee for Health and
Social Services met at the request of Rep. Susan Winchester, R- Chickasha.
She said the shortage of treatment options is a problem that needs to be
addressed quickly.

However, with state funding levels already in place for next year, 72
percent of the estimated 180,000 Oklahomans who need drug or alcohol
treatment will continue to not receive it, Brown said.

"This means someone who needs treatment and is on a waiting list will get
drunk again or use drugs again the next day and will never get treatment,"
Brown said.

Society also will pay a price, Brown said, because substance abusers make
up more than 70 percent of the prison population, and the actions of each
substance abuser have consequences on those around them.

While alcohol abuse remains the state's biggest substance abuse problem,
Brown said, the state also is grappling to deal with a growing
methamphetamine crisis, which will require more extensive treatment.

Brown said more than 740 substance abusers are on a waiting list for treatment.

The state operates 507 beds in residential treatment facilities and halfway
houses.

One facility, Twelve and Twelve in Tulsa, has 57 beds available but still
has a waiting list of 141 because state funding isn't available.

Terry Cline, who recently became commissioner of the Mental Health and
Substance Abuse Services Department, said his agency is looking at a number
of solutions to the state's growing substance abuse problem.

A nine-bed adolescent substance abuse residential treatment program will
open in Norman this fall, and ground will be broken soon in Tulsa on a 54-
bed women and children's facility, which will open next year. Cline also
said a federal agency is conducting a review of his department, and in
December will make recommendations on how to improve its effectiveness.

Lawmakers also heard Thursday how substance-abuse counselors are underpaid
- -- starting pay for a counselor with a master's degree in substance abuse
treatment is about $17,000 -- and how private insurance carriers don't
incur much of the cost of drug treatment.

In Oklahoma, Brown said, substance abuse contributes to 75 percent of all
divorces, 65 percent of child abuse cases and 55 percent of spouse abuse cases.

Rep. Robert Worthen, R- Oklahoma City, asked treatment experts how the
state could make progress if treatment professionals can't determine what
types of methods work.

"It's a tough go, but I'm concerned that we don't have measurements for
success," he said.

June Ross, of Twelve and Twelve, said it's well established that treatment
for less than 90 days rarely works. The goal of her long-term residential
program is for less than 20 percent of clients to return within a year
after completing treatment.

Dan McCullough of the Drug Recovery Center in Oklahoma City said it's hard
to measure success because "you can't measure the forever."

Overcoming drug addiction is a one-day-at-a-time process, he said.

Rep. Carolyn Coleman, R- Moore, said she had a problem with addressing drug
addiction as a disease when users have a choice over the matter.

"The individual is making choices and expecting taxpayers to pay for it,"
she said.

Jack Turner, a member of the Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services
Board, agreed that individuals have a free choice to use drugs -- until it
becomes an addiction.

"Once you become addicted, you are truly hooked," he said.