OFFICIAL: STATE FAILS TO HELP ADDICTS

Treatment, Prevention Statistics Are Grim

The state of Louisiana is meeting the needs of only 8 percent of adults and
less than 5 percent of adolescents who need treatment for substance abuse,
a state health official said Tuesday.

In substance-abuse preventative services, the state is meeting the needs of
only 18 percent of youths under 19 who need help, said Michael Duffy,
acting assistant director for addictive disorders with the state Department
of Health and Hospitals. It gets grimmer, he said: There is a proposed $6
million cut for substance abuse programs in next year's budget.

Duffy made the remarks Tuesday at a public forum for addictive disorders
sponsored by the Jefferson Parish Human Services Authority and held at the
Jefferson Parish School Board Media Center.

Jack Pischner, of the truancy center of the Jefferson Parish Juvenile
Court, told those at the forum about some of the children he must deal with
in his work. He cited one 8-year-old who kills animals and sets fires. His
parents are both crack addicts; they move from motel to motel and are more
concerned about feeding their habits than taking care of their child.

He told of a 20-year-old uncle who works at a fast-food restaurant and is
caring for a small nephew whose mother, a crack addict, has disappeared.
The young man had no idea where to go for help, Pischner said.

He said there are many parents whose drug habits render them incapable of
getting up in the morning to get their kids off to school. Their older
children, often no more than 8 or 9 years old, must act as mother and
father to younger siblings.

But there was a bright side at Tuesday's forum. About 10 men and women who
have received help from the Jefferson Parish drug court probation program
or at private treatment centers stood up and said that treatment has turned
their lives around.

At least two women said the treatment has saved their lives. "Without the
help I would be dead now, either through an overdose or through suicide,"
one woman said.

Duffy also said help may be on the way for more treatment through a
proposed tax on alcoholic beverages. Surveys indicate there appears to be
"a groundswell of support" for such a tax if its proceeds go directly for
prevention and treatment of drug and alcohol abuse.

Freddie Landry, Jefferson Parish's representative on the Governor's
Commission for Addictive Disorders, said a 10-cent tax on every beer and
cocktail sold in Louisiana would provide $160 million annually, which would
dramatically increase the current budget of $72 million for prevention and
treatment.

The state's powerful alcohol lobby is expected to strongly oppose the tax,
which will be presented to the legislature this year, Landry said. But a
permanent, fixed source of revenue is crucial if the state is to provide
services to the majority of its substance abusers, she said.

Leslie Tremaine, executive director of Jefferson Parish Human Services
Authority, encouraged those at the meeting to find ways to assist addicts
in their communities and to lobby their legislators to provide the money
needed for professional help.

She said the forum was an opportunity for people in the judicial system,
law enforcement and education to hear firsthand about the needs of those
who want help in stopping their costly and deadly habits.