PUNISHMENT, WASTEFUL TV ADS DON'T WORK, TREATMENT DOES

While watching "World News Tonight'' recently, I learned that the federal
government plans to spend $2 billion over the next five years on anti-drug
commercials aimed primarily at teenagers.

Don't they realize that the "at risk'' teen believes he or she is
invincible, bullet-proof and believes "it won't happen to me''? Even if it
does have some impact and a few realize they are in trouble or headed for
trouble and want help, where are they going to go?

With few exceptions, insurance companies are denying coverage for
in-patient treatment unless, or until, the person is half dead. They will
pay for out-patient treatment, which is insufficient and usually
unsuccessful. So if you have a drug or alcohol problem and really want
help, you'd better have a lot of money to pay for it.

Of course, I have a personal interest in this matter. I am executive
director of a small, nonprofit women's treatment and transitional living
center in Denver. We do not seek or receive any state or federal funds. Our
only sources of income are client fees, grant funds and donations.

We have an 18-bed capacity and don't ask for money up front. We carry the
client until she is employed and able to pay. This creates a great deal of
financial stress for us. But if we were to start requiring payment in
advance, we would defeat the purpose for which we started this program -
i.e., medically indigent, chemically dependent women who want to quit using
and change their lives.

When I hear that billions of dollars are going to be essentially thrown
down the drain, I become really irate. Here is our staff, working on a
volunteer basis for the past five years to try to help these women get
their lives back when our government is throwing money away.

Aside from this waste, the judicial system seems more interested in
punishing than helping. I currently have a 34-yearold woman who went
through the Arapahoe House Community Intensive Treatment program for 14
days and then came directly into this program.

She celebrated six months of continuous sobriety on July 21. She had a good
job that she loved; her family problems were beginning to heal; her
self-esteem was increasing daily; and she said, "finally my life is
beginning to work.''

On July 22, someone offered her a ride home from work. Their license plates
were expired, they were stopped and the police ran a check on everyone in
the car. My client had a warrant she was unaware of, and they hauled her
off to Denver City Jail. Apparently, the judge goes over the cases before
night court and has the power to impose sentence without a hearing.

She got 60 days in jail and never saw the judge. She never had a chance to
explain what she has done to change what got her in trouble in the first
place. She has been on medication for bi-polar disorder since she went into
treatment and was doing so well. Now she is sitting in jail, without her
medication, where drugs are more available than they are on the street.

How much more counter-productive can the legal system get? When she gets
out, her job will be gone, her family already believes she must have "done
something'' to cause this, and her self-esteem will be back in the gutter.
So we will get to start all over with her if she doesn't give up.

This is the kind of stuff that makes good, caring people working in our
field say, "What the hell am I doing this for?''

Pat Owens is executive director of Lighthouse, A Woman's Turning Point, in
Denver.

Checked-by: (Joel W. Johnson)