WOMEN AND DRUGS: A GROWING PROBLEM

DRUG addiction is becoming more of a problem for women and girls, while
funding sources for drug treatment programs are drying up. The models for
successful programs are out there -- but they need to be made available to
more women. At the height of the crack epidemic, the plight of drug-addicted
mothers and their neglected and drug-exposed children inspired an increase
in the public funding of substance abuse programs for women. Since crack
abuse has subsided, the funding for these programs has fallen off.
Unfortunately, the need has increased as the number of women and girls
addicted to drugs continues to rise, with devastating effects on the women,
their children, families and communities. "Keeping Score 1998," a recent
report by Drug Strategies, a policy research institute based in Washington,
D.C., tells the story all too clearly. It is the first integrated look at
the data on women and substance abuse, the effects on crime, health and
health policy. In most studies, the information about female and male
addicts is not separated.

By several measures the report found evidence of increased drug abuse among
women and girls. The arrests of women and girls for the sale and or
possession of drugs jumped by 42 percent in 1996. Forty percent of all
nonviolent drug offenders nationwide are women. Emergency room visits by
women with drug-related problems jumped 35 percent between 1990 and 1996.
Incredible increase

The data regarding girls is even more alarming. There was an incredible 197
percent increase in the number of drug arrests for girls between 1991 and
1996. Girls are catching up to boys in the use of tobacco, alcohol and other
drugs, closing one gender gap we would prefer to remain open.

While women comprised nearly one-third of the people in drug treatment
programs in 1996, only 6 percent of the programs offered prenatal care and
11percent provided child care.

As the number of women incarcerated for drug offenses has increased, so has
the number of children they have left behind. An estimated 9 percent end up
in foster care. Studies indicate that children of incarcerated women are at
an increased risk for drug and alcohol abuse themselves. It becomes a
vicious, hopeless cycle.

However, some programs have proven effective. The report lists 19 state and
local programs across the country. Two Bay Area programs made the list.

Effective programs

Walden House, a multi-dimensional drug treatment program serving the Bay
Area, focuses on women who are HIV-positive, providing housing,
detoxification, therapy and residential treatment. San Francisco's Epiphany
Center for Families in Recovery, allows women to receive drug treatment and
remain with their children.

Women in danger of losing their children because of neglect can see them at
the center during parenting classes and after treatment sessions.

Oakland's Solid Foundation Mandela House Program was not on the list but
incorporates many of the strategies and characteristics of the listed
programs. The three residential programs house 34 women and their children.
The program boasts an 80 percent success rate.

Minnie Thomas, the founder and director of the program, says the key is in a
highly structured program.

"The women don't go anywhere alone for the first six months," she said.
"They have to be willing to do that. If not, they can leave anytime. We
don't lock the doors. They have to be committed."

After-care is also key. Every Monday, a staff member checks on the graduates
of the program to make sure they are still clean and sober. Several staff
members are graduates themselves.

"Just last night I got a call from a graduate telling me she had celebrated
four years of sobriety. She's married, has a child and is buying a house,"
Thomas said. "And it took her three times in the program to get it right."

Thomas said all her program needs is the ability to expand to help more
women. "We could triple the number," she said.

Thomas and others who run successful programs know what works in treating
drug addiction in women. Those who formulate drug and health policy should
provide them with the means to do it on a much wider scale.