ON THE FRONT LINES

One thing is certain about Vermont's programs for dealing with drug abuse:
They lack the resources they need to combat the problem.

The Legislature is wrestling with issues of drug abuse in part because of a
recent increase in the use of heroin and the crime associated with heroin
addiction. Members of the Legislature have been dismayed by the
half-hearted response of the Dean administration, which insists it is in
the process of putting together a comprehensive program on drug addiction.

Dismay has been furthered because the first reaction of Gov. Howard Dean to
the heroin problem was a quick infusion of money for law enforcement. It is
widely believed by people who deal with drug addiction, including the law
enforcement community, that law enforcement alone cannot solve the problem.
Dean believes so as well, but legislators are discouraged by what appears
to be Dean's knee-jerk reaction on issues of crime. That reaction: more
cops, more jails.

In the absence of a comprehensive program from Dean, members of the
Legislature have begun to consider a program of their own. To get an idea
of the challenges that exist around the state, they ought to begin by
talking with the people on the front lines - community groups wrestling
with the complex problems of abuse, poverty, crime, and illiteracy at the
grass-roots level.

Legislators will hear, for example, that Vermont has no facilities anywhere
in the state for detoxification of juvenile heroin addicts.

They will hear that detoxification programs for adults are woefully lacking.

They will hear that non-profit organizations providing treatment for
addicts, including alcoholics, are short of manpower and funding.

Those who treat addicts frequently say that one of the main obstacles in
providing treatment is that addicts do not want to be treated. It is
possible, however, through the operations of a drug court or judicial
programs attuned to the problems of addicts to make treatment less of an
option and more of a requirement. No one can force a cure upon an addict,
but when people are in state custody, they can be exposed to options they
otherwise might have passed up.

Vermont has been developing community partnerships to provide services to
people in need before they fall into the custody of Departments of
Corrections or Social and Rehabilitation Services. These community programs
struggle to obtain the grants they need and to coordinate the patchwork of
services provided at the grass roots.

The state has done a good job of developing parent-child centers around the
state to provide services for pre-school children. The state would do well
to bolster the efforts of community groups who are grappling with problems
of drug abuse, alcoholism, mental disability, illiteracy, joblessness, and
homelessness.

The death of Christal Jean Jones, a Burlington teenager who was murdered
last month in New York City, has captured the attention of policymakers.
But community groups work every day with problems like those of Jones.

Vermont has decentralized much of its services for those in need, but as
communities take up the variety of social problems that surface most
tellingly with the death of someone like Christal Jean Jones, they
continually run up against a scarcity of resources and manpower. Most
organizations dealing with drug and alcohol abuse will tell legislators
their resources reach only a small fraction of the people in need. Are the
legislators listening?