DRUG TEST NET SNARES SOME IN TREATMENT

Businesses Urged To Give Recovering Addicts A Break

The treatment side of the drug war begins just after dawn in an old
building downtown, where scores of recovering addicts line up to soothe
their cravings.

Most of the 300 recovering heroin and cocaine users at Human Resources
Inc., a methadone clinic at 15 W. Cary St., have jobs, counselors say, and
they stop here for treatment on their way to work.

For businesses considering drug testing, counselors and patients alike
offer this: Give recovering addicts a chance to get clean. "If an employer
is willing to work with the patient while he's in treatment . . . that can
produce a better, more productive worker," said counselor Tiffany Herndon.
"If you get on track and you get yourself together, re-establish your
credit and self-esteem and buy a car," she said, "to lose a job" is
devastating.

At Human Resources, methadone, which must be prescribed by a doctor and is
dispensed in pill form, replaces the drugs the body becomes addicted to.
Although it also is addictive, it's less so than heroin, cocaine or crack
and is less dangerous to be weaned from.

But methadone also shows up as an opiate on many drug tests, and some
clients here say they've been fired after being randomly tested.

They include Sharon, 39, who had worked at a local manufacturing plant for
two years, and Bill, who was in an electrician's apprentice program after
years of using and selling crack. Both have had to take lesser-paying jobs.
They say putting them out of work helped no one. "That's the purpose of the
program -- to help a man come off his addiction so he can be functional, so
he can hold a job, so he can stay off the street," Bill said.

"If you don't let him work on his treatment, what's the point? You might as
well go back to using crack."

"It just wrecked me," said Sharon, who earned an associate degree and moved
into her own apartment while working in the factory. "I was getting ready
to get my two weeks' vacation, I was getting ready to be promoted. The only
thing they saw was . . . a drug addict. They said they had a 'drug-free
workplace.' "

Checked-by: Richard Lake