DRUG CZAR TOURS WILLIMANTIC

Officials Respond To Reports Of High Heroin Use

WILLIMANTIC -- The president's top drug policy adviser joined Gov. John G.
Rowland to tour a drug treatment facility Tuesday in a neighborhood
recently spotlighted for its heroin problems.

National drug czar John Walters met with Rowland, legislators and heads of
various state departments at the Perceptions House. Perception is a
nonprofit addiction and mental health provider, one of 13 members of the
Eastern Connecticut Region Service Center Network.

"My job is to help the president deploy policies and programs that will
enable people like the people in this community make the problems smaller.
This state has been a model in linking agencies and programs to make a
difference in people's lives," Walters said.

Perception's use of a case manager system, with intense one-on-one
counseling for addicts, exemplifies how treatment programs can slow the
drug problem, Walters said.

A woman identified only as "Judy," a former alcoholic being helped by
Perceptions, said a case manager from Perception probably saved her life.

For 25 years, she said she was in and out of treatment clinics, but found
the road to recovery only after she was assigned a case manager while at
Natchaug Hospital.

"I don't believe in fate. I believe in miracles. This program was," Judy said.

Thomas Kirk Jr., commissioner of the Department of Mental Health and
Addiction Services, said 48 percent of the people in rehabilitation
programs identified heroin as their drug of choice, up by more than 10
percent since 1996.

Kirk said several state agencies, including the Department of Children and
Families, share information on clients to improve treatment.

"The whole emphasis is that there are a lot of good things going on in
Willimantic and in the state," Kirk said.

Rowland said the thrust of Tuesday's meeting was to highlight what already
is done at the treatment level to cope with the problems, which include heroin.

"This is not unique to Willimantic. Unfortunately, one town has
crystallized the heroin issue," he said.

Willimantic, a town of about 15,800, has 200 to 300 heroin addicts living
there, social workers estimate, far more addicts than other towns its size
have. The problem has persisted 30 years.

In the wake of the recent publicity, Rowland reiterated his commitment to
helping the city's law enforcement deal with the drug problem, promising
the resources of the state police and community policing unit.

He also announced the addition of $100,000 to a statewide narcotics task
force to help in Windham.

"We are availing ourselves to the city of Willimantic," Rowland said.
"Willimantic is a great town ... a classic New England mill town."

The meeting with Walters was scheduled prior to the series run by the
Hartford Courant, Rowland said. But holding the meeting in Willimantic was
a natural choice in light of the recent attention, he said.

But Democratic gubernatorial candidate Bill Curry responded skeptically to
the visit, saying that since 1998 Rowland proposed more than $52 million in
cuts from programs that address substance abuse, drug addiction and
rehabilitation.

Curry criticized Rowland for using Willimantic as a political tool in
response to recent headlines.

In a release Tuesday, a Curry spokesman said "perhaps Governor Rowland
feels that bringing in someone from the federal government will cover up
his record of eight years of neglect. More is needed than a high-profile
visit."

When asked if drug treatment programs, such as Perceptions, are safe from
future budget cuts, Rowland reiterated his stance that "everything is on
the table as far as budget discussions."

Rowland said the state needs to assess what programs are working and which
could be accomplished with less funding.

Windham First Selectman Michael Paulhus will host a community forum at 7
tonight at Windham High School to discuss the town's response to the recent
newspaper articles.