S.D. STRUGGLES WITH TREATING METH ADDICTS

Number Needing Help On Rise

PIERRE - Treatment programs for methamphetamine addicts can take six
times as long to be effective as those for most other drugs, state
Human Services Secretary Betty Oldenkamp told legislators Wednesday.

Responding to the growing use of meth, and the resulting need for
treatment, will be one of the greatest challenges of the Division of
Alcohol and Drug Abuse in her department, Oldenkamp said.

"We're seeing numbers doubling over a year ago in terms of people
using that drug and in trouble with the law or needing services," she
told members of the House Health and Human Services Committee. The
comments came during an overview of the department's programs and agencies.

Alcohol is still the primary reason for treatment in the state,
according to figures from the Division of Alcohol and Drug Abuse. But
the number of people seeking meth treatment is growing.

In the fiscal year that ended in July, 384 people were treated in
accredited facilities in the state who said meth was their primary
substance of abuse. That was more than double the year before.

The amount of the drug seized by police also continues to rise. In
Sioux Falls for instance, 6,813 grams of methamphetamine were seized
in 2001, compared with 5,493 grams in 2000.

Republican Rep. Donald Van Etten of Rapid City said there isn't much
the state Legislature can do directly to reduce the problem.

"It has to be hit from treatment, law enforcement and, really,
prevention programs, and we're going to have to be sensitive to that
and to the fact that those things will take resources from the state
as well as local communities and schools," said Van Etten, chairman of
the House committee.

In the world of dangerous drugs, meth is one of the most wicked,
Oldenkamp said.

"It's much more pervasive," she said. "It really seems to be one that,
even more than other drugs, erodes family structures."

It also can take up to 18 months for successful treatment once a
problem is admitted, she said. That compares with a typical treatment
period of two or three months for many other drugs.

Oldenkamp said her department is working with federal agencies to get
grant money to develop programs that are effective in treating meth
users.

"Our ability to have a system to respond to that, and our ability to
pay for that kind of service, is going to be a challenge," she said.

Gib Sudbeck, director of the state's drug and alcohol division, said
meth is the first drug he's seen in more than two decades in the
chemical dependency field that is used intravenously from the start.

"It's primarily IV use, and that creates a lot of concerns about
transmitting diseases," he said. "This is one drug where they start
right out injecting. You supposedly get a stronger high by using it
with a needle."

He agreed with Oldenkamp's assessment of treatment length. It can take
as much as a year for the brain to clear from the effects of the drug,
so an 18-month treatment program often is required to be able to work
with an individual no longer completely in the grip of the chemicals.

"That's expensive treatment," Sudbeck said.

The most effective answer long-term is prevention, he said, and that
should start with schoolchildren before they reach the age at which
they might be interested in drugs or alcohol.