METHADONE TREATMENT OFFERS FALSE HOPE TO HEROIN ADDICTS

Parents the world over should be thankful. The massive rejection by Swiss
voters of a recent referendum to legalize drugs dealt a severe blow to drug
legalization efforts everywhere.

But the vote in Switzerland hardly drove a wooden stake through the heart of
an ongoing campaign to destigmatize drugs and their abuse. The possible
implementation of such misguided approaches someday may result in far more
young people just saying yes to drugs.

Rebuffed by 74 percent of the electorate, those advocates who would have
given anyone in Switzerland over 18 the right to use doctor-prescribed
marijuana, heroin and cocaine are regrouping. Marijuana now will be their
drug legalization issue of choice.

But as the supporters of the Swiss referendum noted, the initiative's
failure likely resulted from the public's concern over heroin rather than
marijuana. Heroin abuse and its treatment are proving to be a major
battleground in the drug policy debate.

A study just released in Pediatrics, the journal of the American Academy of
Pediatrics, once again underscored that heroin is increasingly threatening
suburban middle-class communities, as opposed to being restricted to
impoverished inner cities.

Pediatrics identifies North Texas and Maryland as the sites of two national
"mini-epidemics" of heroin abuse. In the past year, at least 15 more young
people in North Texas died of heroin overdoses, leaving parents and
officials beside themselves with grief and frustration.

But instead of actively pushing for vigorous long-term treatment strategies
that give all addicts a fighting chance to get off all drugs, reformers are
pushing either a general message of legalization or one emphasizing
methadone treatment.

Christopher Policano, a spokesman for Phoenix House - a drug treatment
organization in New York - says methadone has its advantages. But methadone
treatment programs work best if they are successful in getting heroin
addicts off all drugs, including methadone. "We believe abstinence is an
attainable goal of treatment," he says.

New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani roiled the drug policy waters earlier this
year when he attacked methadone treatment programs as impeding the recovery
of heroin addicts. He addressed the issue because of the unusual number of
addicts on methadone treatment who also were on the welfare rolls. At the
same time, Barry McCaffrey, the nation's drug czar, was supporting relaxed
rules surrounding the dispensing of methadone.

Who is right? Mr. Policano acknowledges Mr. Giuliani's concerns. But he also
understands the allure of methadone in the treatment community. "There is no
magic bullet for this very complicated issue," he says.

Fortunately, the mini-epidemic in North Texas is resulting in meaningful new
initiatives. In Denton County, officials are considering using a proposed
sales tax on alcohol and tobacco to offer long-term residential treatment to
substance-abusing youngsters.

Phoenix House applauds the move. It repeatedly has noted that the
detoxification of a heroin addict can occur within a week or so. But
addressing the addict's psychological motivations in seeking out heroin in
the first place can take a year.

One 46-year-old recovering heroin addict from Richardson recently told me
that, in his experience, methadone always was a means to an end. "My friends
and I always saw it as a way of tiding us over and keeping us from getting
sick until we could get another fix of heroin," he says. In recovery for
almost two years, he says he still would be on heroin if he hadn't enjoyed
the support of other recovering addicts in a 12-step program.

The coordinator of Collin County's substance abuse program says young people
need special help. "I advise parents to do everything humanly possible to
have your addicted child in treatment as long as possible," Sabina Stern
told The Dallas Morning News. "That may mean using a college fund, borrowing
from grandparents or selling the boat."

As for the recovering addict who called me the other day, he says he is
taking life one day at a time. He says he takes inspiration from wherever he
can find it. "I used to be a hopeless drug addict," he adds, half-jokingly.
"But now, I call myself a drugless hope addict."

Checked-by: Don Beck