CHEAP TALK ON DRUGS

If Tennessee legislators want to swap some methadone funding for epilepsy
funds, they should do so for the right reasons, not because of political
posturing.

The decision last week by the Senate General Welfare Committee to cut
$186,500 from TennCare funding for methadone treatment to restore money cut
from the Epilepsy Foundation is penny wise and pound foolish. Coupled with
matching federal funds, the methadone program would lose $524,000.

The assertion by Sen. Rusty Crowe, who targeted the funding, that state
spending on methadone was meant to "keep drug addicts happy" shows a
serious lack of understanding about addiction.

Legislators don't want to be accused of coddling drug users. But treating
drug addiction is tough business. Methadone happens to be one solution that
works. It allows addicts to get their fix while gradually weaning them from
addiction. More importantly, the treatment allows addicts to continue
working and contributing to their families. They are less likely to commit
a crime to feed their habit and more likely to contribute tax dollars to
their communities and this state. By one estimate, every dollar spent on
treatment is returned as much as four to seven times over.

Certainly, the care of those stricken with epilepsy is no less urgent. But
the foundation has other resources from which to raise money. When state
officials began looking for ways to trim the budget, those areas that could
raise funds more readily from outside sources were a natural place to look.

Sen. David Fowler, R-Signal Mountain, criticized the methadone program as
unregulated with few controls on patients who seek treatment. Tennessee
regulates, rather than actually runs, six clinics in the state. If there
are problems, state health officials certainly should investigate. So too,
should claims by Fowler that the methadone program is attracting addicts
from other states.

But when senators criticize addicts for taking advantage of a situation,
they should consider their own willingness to bad-mouth worthy health
programs for cheap political gain.