GOVERNOR: FINANCIAL CRISIS HURTS DRUG FIGHT

Patton Urges Agencies To Boost Programs Despite Limited Funds

PAINTSVILLE, Ky. -- Saying the state's financial crisis is partly to blame,
Gov. Paul Patton and others expressed frustration yesterday about the
''major problem'' of drug abuse, especially OxyContin and other
prescription painkillers.

Patton, presiding at a meeting of the Kentucky Appalachian Commission, said
state and local agencies must do more to find solutions.

''I don't know where we go, but we have a problem,'' Patton told 100
delegates at the conference.

''We're going to have to look at reallocating resources. We have to talk
about something in terms of existing resources,'' said Patton, who in an
interview did not specify where he thought additional money could be found.

Patton called on Justice Secretary Ishmon Burks to form a task force to
advise the General Assembly on strengthening drug treatment and education
programs.

But Patton said the financial crisis has made it impossible to allocate new
money to fight drug abuse.

''We didn't add anything to the budget. We said we're not putting anything
new in the budget'' for drug programs, Patton said, although he called drug
abuse a major problem.

''I think every family has been touched by this, most of us pretty close,''
Patton said.

Earlier this week, the governor said ''we've reached the end of our rope''
in what he termed an unprecedented budget crisis. He endorsed no solutions
and called for talks with the legislature about raising taxes, making
substantial cuts in services, or both.

OxyContin, which attracted much of the attention at yesterday's conference,
has been blamed for dozens of overdose deaths in Kentucky, although the
number of deaths is down this year. Abusers get around the powerful
prescription painkiller's timed release by crushing the pills and inhaling
or injecting the powder to get a euphoric high -- and such addicts have
nowhere to turn for help, a speaker said yesterday.

''If you wanted to get into a treatment program right now, it would be a
minimum of six weeks to get in,'' said Scott Walker, director of substance
abuse at Mountain Comprehensive Care, a group of drug and mental health
centers in Eastern Kentucky. ''We're in a bad time right now where there is
no money available.''

Some delegates, including Patton and Burks, did contend that at least a
dent has been made in the OxyContin problem.

Burks -- a former Kentucky State Police commissioner who headed a state
OxyContin task force last year -- said law enforcement has arrested 800
illegal traffickers and users of the drug since February 2001. The
crackdown has lessened the amount of OxyContin available on the black
market, said Tim Hazlette, deputy commissioner of state police.

But Harlan County Sheriff Steve Duff said OxyContin abuse is still a
constant worry.

''Hardly a week goes by when a mother doesn't come to my office and ask
what she can do to get her kid off drugs,'' Duff said. ''It's like a
plague. It's eating us alive.''

Tom Manzi of the federal Drug Enforcement Administration said the abuse of
prescription drugs -- including OxyContin, Tylox and Vicadin -- remains the
''most serious drug threat in Eastern Kentucky.''

Manzi, a DEA supervisor who works with Kentucky on drug issues, said his
agency has also fought the drug war in the Appalachia by trying to
eradicate marijuana plants and methamphetamine labs. He called meth an
''exploding threat.''

Despite some law enforcement successes, Burks said police could not
continue to ''operate in isolation.'' He urged better coordination of law
enforcement and drug education and treatment.

The state's attempt to combat drug abuse has suffered from a lack of
organization, said Charles Housley, a director at Appalachian Regional
Healthcare, which has about a dozen hospitals in Eastern Kentucky.

''If we're going to do anything with substance abuse, we have to get
organized,'' Housley said.

Similar frustration was voiced by the Rev. Donnie Coots, a pastor from
Hazard whose son died of an OxyContin overdose. ''Hey, let's get a concept
here,'' Coots said, his voice trembling as he addressed delegates. ''If we
don't fix this, there won't be anything left to fix.''