METHADONE GETS NOD IN HELPING ADDICTS RECOVER

CHICAGO -- In its first report aimed at improving how the
criminal-justice system deals with drug addicts, the National
Institute on Drug Abuse offered 13 guidelines Monday for what works
- -- and what doesn't.

The key is understanding that drug addiction is a brain disease that
affects behavior, and that it requires carefully monitored,
personalized treatment, including access to medication such as
methadone after the drug offender is released into society, the institute said.

"What does not work? Putting a person who is addicted to drugs in
jail for five or 10 years and thinking that will cure him with no
treatment," said Dr. Nora Volkow, director of the anti-drug-abuse
agency, part of the National Institutes of Health. "The likelihood of
that person relapsing is very high."

The guidelines urge a mix of traditionally liberal and conservative approaches.

The institute argues that prisons and court-ordered treatment
programs don't use methadone and other addiction medications enough.
At the same time, the guidelines support pressuring offenders into
treatment as a condition of probation and advocate urine testing
during treatment to track and prevent relapses.

"The criminal-justice system offers an extraordinary opportunity to
help people with drug problems," Volkow said.

Every $1 spent on drug-treatment programs also saves the nation an
estimated $4 in crime costs, she said. The annual estimated cost to
the U.S. for drug crimes is $107 billion.

The drug treatments Cheryl Cline started in an Illinois prison after
using crack cocaine for nine years probably saved the 29-year-old's
life. This week, she is marking her third drug-free year, and her
life has been turned around.

While she was using, Cline said, she lived in an abandoned building
or a car, and she shoplifted to support her addiction. Today, she
works as a waitress, has reunited with her family and is studying to
be a drug counselor.

"I'd like people to know that everybody deserves an opportunity for
treatment" said Cline, who lives in Aurora, Ill. "Prison is one of
the best places to do it, because you are confined. You have nothing
but time on your hands."

Maia Szalavitz, a drug-policy expert not involved with the report,
said the guidelines are excellent. Methadone is rarely used in the
criminal-justice system despite evidence that it helps people
addicted to opioids such as heroin, she said.

"If these guidelines help addicts in the justice system to get more
sensitive and appropriate care, they will be highly useful," said
Szalavitz, a senior fellow at the media watchdog group Statistical
Assessment Service. "But if systems are not put in place to ensure
that the system rewards treatment excellence and drops harmful and
ineffective methods, they won't do much."