E. KENTUCKY TO GET 2 DRUG-TREATMENT CENTERS

Project Funded With $1.5 Million From U.S.

PIKEVILLE, Ky. -- Targeting an epidemic of abuse of prescription and
illegal drugs, two treatment centers will open in Eastern Kentucky with
$750,000 each in federal funding, officials said yesterday.

The centers in Pike and Clay counties are expected to provide residential
treatment for about 170 people who now linger on waiting lists or have to
travel out of state or some two hours to Ashland, officials said.

After the money is used to set up the centers, they will depend on grants
and private donations for future funding.

"We have a significant shortage of drug treatment facilities across the
state, especially here in Eastern Kentucky," U.S. Rep. Harold "Hal" Rogers,
R-5th District, said during a ceremony at Pikeville College.

Chad McWhorter was 21 when he fatally overdosed on OxyContin last July. His
father, Charlie McWhorter, said in an interview that the Clay County
facility in Manchester, which will be named "Chad's Hope Center" in honor
of his son, would give hope to those struggling with addiction.

"I've lost my son, but I can still help somebody else," said McWhorter, who
was at the second announcement later in the day in Manchester. "We're
determined to do that."

The severity of Eastern Kentucky's drug problem has drawn $24million in
federal money over the past three years for the anti-drug task force
Operation UNITE. The task force attacks the problem through law enforcement
and organizing citizens groups to coordinate education and treatment.

Rogers said efforts to curb drug abuse must be accompanied by better access
to treatment. "The law enforcement part is working," Rogers said. "But
treatment is the toughest area. It costs the most money, and it's a
long-term solution."

About 1,500 alleged drug dealers have been arrested following
investigations by Operation UNITE, which stands for Unlawful Narcotics
Investigations, Treatment and Education.

But existing treatment facilities in Eastern Kentucky have less than 10
percent of the capacity needed to meet the demand, Rogers said.

The Centers

The new Pike County treatment center in Ashcamp will be in a building
formerly occupied by the Kentucky Youth Academy, a private juvenile
detention center that was shut down by state regulators in 2001.

The planned 75-bed facility in Manchester has yet to be built. The $750,000
will help pay for construction, Rogers said. Both centers are expected to
serve people from around the region.

Dick Steinberg, president of WestCare, a nonprofit group based in Las Vegas
that will operate the center in Ashcamp, said the facility would likely
open within a few months and start with 20 beds. Future plans will focus on
expansion to 96 beds, Steinberg said.

WestCare operates treatment facilities in five other states and the Virgin
Islands. Steinberg said the group is also looking at opening a facility in
Estill County to serve Central Kentucky.

Gary Johnson, a Pikeville lawyer, and his wife, Anita, donated the building
in Ashcamp for the treatment center.

"We see this as a good investment in the future," Anita Johnson said at the
Pikeville announcement.

A groundbreaking ceremony for the Manchester facility is scheduled for May
2, the first anniversary of an anti-drug rally in Clay County that drew
3,500 people.

Visions of Eastern Kentucky, another nonprofit group that is composed of
concerned citizens, will operate the Manchester center, Rogers said.

The Manchester and Ashcamp centers are separate from the state's plan to
create 10 drug- and alcohol-abuse centers around Kentucky.

Evidence Of Problem

Pike Circuit Judge Eddy Coleman, one of many judges in the region who has a
swelled docket because of drug-related cases, said treatment would ease the
burden on the court system.

"You have to have an alternative for people who are engaged in criminal
behavior because they have a drug problem," Coleman said.

In Pike County, the only treatment option for addicts is a 10-bed
detoxification facility at Pikeville Medical Center, said hospital CEO
Joann Anderson.

Mike Haney, clinical coordinator for an outpatient drug treatment program
at Our Lady of Bellefonte Hospital in Ashland, said many people who attend
the hospital's programs come from areas hours away, including Pikeville.

State Sen. Ray Jones, D-Pikeville, said he often gets calls from residents
desperate to find drug treatment closer to home. "I've had to tell them
there are no treatment facility beds in Eastern Kentucky," Jones said.
"That's something that has to change."

Pat Trujillo, whose 28-year-old son, Chris, battled an addiction to
prescription drugs before committing suicide three years ago, said the
announcement of the new facilities came too late.

"It's such a big problem around here, and treatment really is the last
resort," said Trujillo, of Pikeville. "The only place they can really clean
up this mess is in the courtroom."