DISABLED AT RISK FOR SUBSTANCE ABUSE

WASHINGTON, - People with disabilities are up to three
times as likely to abuse drugs or alcohol than the rest of the population.

The federal government today announced new plans to treat the
disproportionate number of people with disabilities who are addicted
to drugs or alcohol.

Nelba Chavez, administrator of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health
Services Administration, says the government has ``a legal and
ethical obligation to ensure appropriate treatment'' for those who
have had difficulty finding addiction programs tailored to their
disabilities.

At a Washington news conference, Chavez said, ``The barriers to
treatment for those with disabilities extend far beyond the initial
hurdle of deciding to seek treatment.''

She said the disabled face attitudinal, discriminatory, communications
and architectural barriers to getting help.

Dr. Westley Clark, director of the Center for Substance Abuse
Treatment, said the problems of the disabled and the addicted
compound each other. Clark said, ``Researchers estimate that 60 to 70
percent of people with disabilities are unemployed or underemployed,
and some 30 percent live below the poverty line.''

He added, ``Alcohol or illegal drugs become their way of coping with
the hand that life has dealt them.''

Hector del Valle was abusing drugs and alcohol in 1982, when he became
a quadriplegic in a drunken driving accident. He was denied access to
a treatment program because of his disability and continued his
substance abuse. Del Valle said, ``I drove drunk and stoned for seven
years after the initial crash, thinking, it couldn't happen again,
could it?''

Now in his tenth year of recovery, Del Valle said he recalled feeling
he couldn't find suitable treatment because he was in a wheelchair. He
said, ``Nancy Reagan said just say no, my family said go to church,
but no one told me how to deal with those voices in my head which said
life sucks if you don't get high.''

Among the suggestions in the protocol: screen patients for
disabilities that are not obvious, address employment and isolation
problems often associated with disabilities, and recognize that some
persons will need specialized services because of their
disabilities.