TREATMENT WORKS

People who go through drug or alcohol treatment are healthier, more apt to
stay out of trouble with the law and are better able to function in a job
than they were before getting help, a state survey says.

The state Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services based its
findings Monday on admission and discharge information for 58,846 addicts
who underwent at least six months' worth of treatment in 1997 and 1998. They
represented about one quarter of all people who were discharged from the
1,200 such programs licensed in New York state during the period.

The number of people arrested fell from the 18,633 in the six months prior
to their entering a program to 5,513 once they started treatment, a decline
of more than 70 percent, according to the survey.