PUBLIC DETOX CENTER SOUGHT

A recovery group clamoring for establishment of a detoxification facility
in Santa Barbara is planning a rally and march Sunday in Santa Barbara.

Community Recovery Network members say it's time for local, state and
federal politicians to stop bucking responsibility for funding and deliver
more than token praise.

Santa Barbara does not have a public detox center. Since 1996, Santa
Barbarans seeking such care have been directed to either Santa Maria or
Ventura for affordable treatment.

The county funds outpatient drug-assisted detox for heroin addiction, and
acupuncture services are available on an outpatient basis. Cottage Hospital
operates an inpatient service at a cost of about $1,000 per day.

The network wants to use the occasion of national Alcohol and Drug
Addiction Recovery Month (this month) to raise awareness about the need for
an affordable center. The event also will remind the community about the
cost of substance abuse.

"Our goal is to increase recovery and treatment services for substance
abusers who want to come clean," said group member Sonya Baker. "Ever since
our inception, the top priority for our membership is an affordable detox
center. It's the membership that's driving this, including a lot of parents."

Honey Nelson said she lost her son, Michael "Bo" Nelson, last year to
drug-related problems. He grew up in Santa Barbara and as a teen-ager got
involved with drugs.

To pay tribute to her son and to raise awareness, Nelson is helping to lead
Sunday's rally.

"There's probably no family that isn't touched by someone with an alcohol
or substance abuse problem," Nelson said.

A detox center treats individuals for a minimum of 72 hours, allowing them
to completely detoxify, and for an optimum time of seven to 21 days. Detox
is only one stage in the process of recovery.

But only after patients have completed detoxification can they get
effective treatment in a variety of programs, Baker said.

"As an advocacy program, we need to keep putting the pressure on the
politicians, or they'll keep putting it off," Baker said.

The rally will begin at 1:30 p.m. at Veracruz Park, commonly called Haley
Park or Needle Park. Baker said that's where some indigent alcoholics and
addicts end up kicking the habit since they have nowhere else to go.

From the park, the group will march from Haley Street to State Street and
then to De la Guerra Plaza. There, several people recovering from substance
abuse will give talks.

Speakers at the rally will include Community Recovery Network Director Alex
Brumbaugh, Assemblywoman Hannah-Beth Jackson, D-Santa Barbara; Superior
Court Judge Frank Ochoa; and City Council members Gregg Hart, Gil Garcia
and Rusty Fairly. Ruby's Cafe will sell enchilada plates with partial
proceeds benefiting the network.

Santa Barbara is full of social services to help the needy, but alcoholics
and drug addicts remain underserved and a residential detox center is one
of the area's most pressing needs, according to a poll conducted last year
of 600 network members.

But there are many barriers to establishing a center in Santa Barbara.
Money is one obstacle. Declining reimbursement from private insurance
companies, opposition from merchants to a center downtown, and lack of
local, organized advocacy for a center are viewed as impediments to the
project.