IS W.VA. MAKING THE MOST OF ITS TREATMENT DOLLARS?

WAYNE -- In 2004, West Virginia was spending $7,577,063 of state
funds for drug treatment, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental
Health Services Administration, but is that money being put toward
the right services?

Not if you ask Debby Hibbard.

Hibbard's oldest daughter has a drug problem and lives with her parents.

Her abuse began with prescription drug abuse then led to a crack
cocaine addiction. Hibbard knows her daughter needs help, but
struggles week to week and sometimes day to day to find that assistance.

"Right now, you cannot force anyone over the age of 18 into
treatment," Hibbard said. "Anyone will tell you it is a brain disease."

Hibbard said the only thing she can do for her daughter is voluntary
treatment. Twice Hibbard's daughter went to Kentucky for treatment
because the waiting list in West Virginia was so long.

"It is the biggest problem imaginable here," Hibbard said. "All they
do with people is put them in jail, and when they get out, they still
have problems with drugs."

Shelley Gaines, development coordinator for Prestera Center, said
Prestera has been reimbursed through the Medicaid program at the same
rate since 1992.

"It costs places a lot more to provide the amount of services we
provided 10 years ago," Gaines said. "Although we would like to
create more innovative programs that can actually prevent people from
getting on drugs, we have to have more funding."

Hibbard said she wants to see more long-term treatment facilities
available. She also would like to see a law in place where adults can
be forced into treatment.

"I want more funds for the places that are here and more funds for
new facilities," Hibbard said. "If my daughter has cancer and was
dying in the middle of the night, we could go to any hospital and get
her help," Hibbard said. "If we come in there with a daughter who has
an overdose of cocaine, we don't get treated so nice."

Gaines said Prestera struggles to do what they do each day.

"It is awful to say, but money is at the root of this," Gaines said.
"But it would be nice for the mental health and substance abuse
system to get the same recognition as the health-care system."

Gaines wants the public to realize that substance abuse problems are
just as real as cancer or any other disease.

Another important piece to understanding addiction and trying to end
the cycle involves the patients themselves.

Karen Yost, director of clinical services at River Park Hospital,
said treatment can work, but only when patients have made up their
minds quit what it is they have a problem with.

"You can start with detoxing, but staying off drugs or any addiction
is a continuous life process," Yost said. "Only two to three days is
not enough. Society doesn't view drug abuse or mental illness as a
disease, they see it as a social problem."

Delegate Don Perdue, D-Wayne, said the Legislature is also struggling
for a way to stop the demand for drugs.

He said for the past 15 years, the state has been trying to implement
a plan that will correct the problems facing mental health in West
Virginia, but has never experienced the success he has really wanted.

"We believe in putting in place a step-wise approach to how we will
deal with all of these issues," Perdue said. "This entails not only
what kind of care you offer, but where you are going to put your
resources and provide funding."

The Legislature intends to have a plan in place by late 2008,
according to Perdue. The plan will not only address mental health,
but it will also be solution-driven.

Perdue said this effort will provide an organized approach.

"We have to get all of our ducks in a row, and it takes a while to do
that," Perdue said. "This has been an ongoing problem, and I don't
know any other way to describe it."

[Sidebar]

Types Of Drug Treatment

* Support groups: These outpatient drug-free treatment options do
not involve medication, but rather depend on the general friendship
of others. Most of the programs involve individual or group
counseling. These can include 12-step programs and Narcotics Anonymous.

* Methadone treatments: Methadone is an opiate blocker. It often
helps people who are addicted to heroin or other opiate based drugs.
It is usually given in an injection form and under a doctor's close
supervision. It makes the person feel satisfied, but not euphoric.
Source: National Institute of Health and River Park Hospital.

* Prestera's Addictions Recovery Centers, 625 8th St.
(304)-697-1269. 3) Check with your doctor.