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Everyone wants drug treatment centers but ...

The day is approaching when residents battling so hard to prevent drug
treatment centers from being located in their neighborhoods may be fighting
to save San Diego County's desert. That's because it's the only place left
where local politicians are likely to approve such centers.

Sadly, everyone - even the NIMBYs who are bringing all the pressure to
block such treatment facilities - agree that they are badly needed. They
get addicts off the street, make them self-sufficient and are the most
inexpensive way of solving one of the nation's most costly problems.

In fact, since last July 1, when Proposition 36 went into effect, it has
been California law that nonviolent drug offenders must be offered
treatment for up to a year instead of being imprisoned. And, as local drug
program directors and judges acknowledge, the county soon will run out of
places to house these offenders. Five thousand such cases will flow through
the judicial system this year, far more than 7 local treatment centers can
handle.

And, as long as the first whisper of a contemplated new facility sets
NIMBYs atwitter, the local politicians will cave.

It happened last year when Delancey Street Foundation, a nonprofit
organization that runs one of the most successful and comprehensive
therapeutic programs for addicts in the nation, scrapped plans to build a
facility in Imperial Beach in the face of protests.

It happened last year in El Cajon when the City Council took less than five
minutes to reject plans by the highly regarded McAlister Institute to open
a residential drug-treatment center there.

And, it's happening now in Escondido, where the City Council last week
deadlocked 2-2 to lend Serenity House $150,000 to turn a 60-room motel into
a 100-room transitional housing center for women and children addicts.
Without the city loan, Serenity House, despite a 36-year record of success,
cannot qualify for a $650,000 county loan to close escrow on the purchase.

Never mind that such facilities actually help neighborhoods, as City
Heights learned a decade ago when one run by CRASH moved in despite
objections. CRASH clients and employees actually helped spur a massive
neighborhood cleanup that is still yielding dividends. "None of the fears
of neighbors has ever been realized. Not one," said pastor Richard Perozich
of the Sacred Heart Church. "It's the last place active drug users want to
be. Treatment centers repel drug users."

No dire happenings for Chula Vista as Nosotros, a drug-recovery home for
Latino men, opened.

Local politicians, though, seldom listen to the rational arguments of
experts. Instead, their rabbit ears are attuned only to the complaints of a
small group of fearful voters.

So, someday in the future, we likely will be fighting the sprawl of these
urgently needed drug treatment centers into our desert. That is, if there's
any room left after all the homeless shelters and parole offices are forced
to move there.