LIFE IMITATES ART

IN A cameo appearance in Steven Soderbergh's movie "Traffic,'' Sen. Barbara
Boxer asks the new drug czar to back her bill calling for treatment on
demand for substance abusers.

Sometime this week, the California Democrat will introduce a bill calling
for treatment on demand for substance abusers. And, who knows? She might
end up quoting her lines from the movie as she seeks support in Washington.

Boxer's bill would gradually double federal funding for drug treatment over
five years, until the federal government is providing $6 billion to states
and local drug treatment centers. The bill could be especially helpful for
California, since $125 million of the total would be set aside for states
that offer treatment instead of prison to non-violent drug offenders.
That's the route Californians chose when they approved Proposition 36 last
year. That initiative provided money for treatment but not for testing, and
Boxer's bill would help fill that gap.

Treatment on demand is not easy or cheap to provide, as San Francisco well
knows after setting that ambitious goal for itself in 1997. But it is worth
the effort and expense. People who have reached the point where they want
to overcome substance abuse need help right away, not a months-long waiting
list; they need treatment they can afford, whether they are comfortably
middle-class or destitute and homeless; and they need to be able to tap
other services, such as transitional housing and mental health treatment.
Substance abusers rarely have only one problem.

Money for treatment is money well-spent, since every $1 invested in
treatment saves society about $7, much of it in decreased criminal
activity. We've known for years that treatment and prevention are a better
approach to substance abuse than prosecution and incarceration after the
damage is done. Boxer's bill would take the nation another step in the
right direction.

Maybe someday she can appear in another movie: "How We Won the War on Drugs.''