MANY MORE TREATED FOR METH, POT

Prescription drugs, methamphetamine and marijuana are sending more
people than ever into drug treatment, according to new federal data
that also reflect how criminal sentencing policies have dramatically
increased the number of drug users in treatment.

The data, released Monday by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health
Services Administration, indicate that alcohol remains by far the
most common reason for substance-abuse treatment. However, alcohol
abuse was a factor in only 40% of the roughly 1.9 million admissions
to U.S. treatment centers in 2004, down from 53% of the nearly 1.7
million admissions a decade earlier. The more recent numbers show a
broadening in the variety of addictions, posing new challenges to
treatment centers across the nation, the agency's Mark Weber says.

The number of addicts seeking treatment for abusing prescription
opiates such as OxyContin remained relatively small ­ 63,243 in 2004
­ but was up 62% from three years earlier, the report says.
Prescription drug abusers accounted for about 3% of those in
treatment in 2004, triple the percentage of a decade earlier.

Meanwhile, the number of meth addicts in treatment in 2004 ­ 129,079
­ represented a jump of 57% from 2001. Meth addicts made up 7% of
those in treatment in 2004. Weber says the rising impact of such
addicts is forcing treatment centers to retool their programs to
accommodate longer, more intensive treatment. "It's the insidious
nature of this drug. It grabs hold of people so quickly and destroys
their lives so rapidly."

In Arkansas, California, Idaho, Nevada, Oklahoma and Utah, meth
addicts represented at least 20% of those seeking treatment, the data
show. Hawaii's treatment programs had the highest proportion of meth
addicts, 41%.

Winnie Wechsler, executive director of Phoenix Houses of California,
which provides daily treatment to 2,200 people, says the rise in meth
addicts is continuing.

The data also reflect the increase in the number of courts that focus
on drug cases and offer options for treatment instead of jail. The
number of marijuana users in treatment topped 298,000 in 2004, more
than double the number from a decade earlier. The data show that 57%
of those treated for marijuana use in 2004 entered treatment centers
under court orders.