A WEEKLY PERSPECTIVE ON VERMONT AFFAIRS

EDITOR'S NOTE: Chris Graff's weekly "Vermont View" is on a
summer hiatus. Guest columnists are providing their
perspectives.

RUTLAND, Vt. - The helicopter circled overhead, and the police
closed in. In the end, the raid on July 18 resulted in the arrest of
three people for dealing crack cocaine in Rutland. Then last week
police arrested four more suspected dealers.

Meanwhile, the Brandon Planning Commission reached a decision
rejecting a plan to establish a drug treatment center for juveniles on
the grounds of the former Brandon Training School. Brandon residents
were adamant in their opposition, mainly because the new facility
would be next to a large day-care center.

That's how the war on drugs is going.

Police say the increased incidence of burglary in the state is the
result of the dramatic rise in the use of heroin. Heroin is cheap, and
addicts can make money by making a buy in Massachusetts and bringing
the stuff up to Vermont. Mental health officials estimate there may be
as many as 200 or 300 heroin addicts in Rutland County alone.

At the same time, heroin is a tiny part of the problem of alcohol and
drug abuse. Only about 4 percent of the admissions for treatment last
year came from people addicted to heroin, according to the Office of
Alcohol and Drug Abuse. Cocaine and crack cocaine are still a problem,
but by far the most widely abused substance is still alcohol.

Police admit they are helpless. They are not helpless in catching
people and putting them in jail. But they are helpless in stemming the
tide of crime unless adequate treatment is available for drug and
alcohol abuse.

And that takes us to Brandon. The program proposed for Brandon would
have focused on juvenile drug addicts, for whom there are no
facilities in the state.

The Brandon proposal was probably doomed from the start. Asking to
place a drug treatment center next to a day-care center is asking for
trouble. But the rejection in Brandon highlights how difficult it is
to take even those steps everyone agrees must be taken.

State officials have taken other halting steps. The Legislature
passed, and the governor grudgingly signed, a bill authorizing the use
of methadone in hospital settings for the treatment of heroin addiction.

But methadone has provoked its own tempest of protest. Advocates say
it is a necessary component of a comprehensive treatment program.
Opponents say it is likely to bring addicts to towns where methadone
is available.

This year the House passed a bill to establish a drug court as a pilot
project in Rutland County. The drug court would divert drug offenders
away from jail and toward the treatment programs they need. The bill
will be taken up next year by the Senate, which will have to make sure
the treatment programs are in place to make a drug court work.

Vermont has an enormous opportunity. Awareness of the drug problem is
keen, and recognition of the need for treatment programs is widely
shared. All that is needed is for the Dean administration and
legislative leaders to summon the will to make a comprehensive drug
and alcohol treatment program a high priority for the state.

Drug and alcohol treatment is available, according to Mark Monson,
president and CEO of Rutland Mental Health Services, but state
reimbursement rates have been flat and residential and in-patient care
is lacking because insurance companies are reluctant to pay for it.
The result is that the state's mental health centers are losing money
on alcohol and drug treatment, which makes it harder for them to
expand their services to those in need.

One of the obstacles to a comprehensive attack on drugs and alcohol is
the feeling that alcoholics and addicts have brought their troubles on
themselves and they need to fix their problems themselves.

That is the attitude that has brought us to our predicament. And the
police are telling us that if we want to change the present pattern of
abuse, crime, jail, and then more crime, we have to try something different.

Vermont has the chance to show the world that an enlightened society
does not write off those in trouble with drugs and alcohol. We
recognize that our friends and loved ones sometimes number among them.

Not everyone can be saved by enlightened policy and compassionate
treatment. The potential for tragedy is an indelible part of the human
story. But Vermont could be a model for the nation if we were willing
to devote our resources and the talent of caring people to healing
those who have wandered down the blind alley of drug and alcohol abuse.

Our children need a place to get well. And drug abusers who run afoul
of the law need the chance to get their act together.

It's a commitment we ought to be willing to make to put our house in
order.