KEEP POLITICS OUT OF DRUG TREATMENT FUNDING

The move last week by the state Senate General Welfare Committee to cut
money from TennCare's methadone treatment program to restore funding to the
Epilepsy Foundation is a case of the uninformed making the wrong decision
for the wrong reasons.

The committee voted to cut $186,500 from the methadone treatment program.
When federal matching funds are added in, the program will lose
significantly more.

The only thing more wrongheaded than this decision is lawmakers' political
reasons for making it. Sen. Rusty Crowe, R-Johnson City, opined that state
spending on methadone was "meant to keep drug addicts happy."

Such insensitive rhetoric shows that Crowe doesn't know what he's talking
about. Methadone treatment is a proven program that helps addicts.
Methadone users are able to manage their addictions, while breaking the
vicious addiction cycle. Methadone users are able to continue to work and
support themselves and their families. They also are significantly less
likely to commit a crime to feed their habit. It has been estimated that 80
to 90 percent of crimes are somehow drug related. An investment in
methadone treatment is an investment in societal safety and stability.

Lawmakers need to reverse this terrible decision. They should realize that
methadone treatment is not the same as "coddling drug users." Methadone is
a godsend for people crippled by their addiction. It is an investment that
has paid for itself many times over. According to one estimate, for every
dollar spent on drug treatment, $4 to $7 is returned.

Methadone saves lives. This is a decision in which political grandstanding
should play no part.