PRISONS TO TREAT METH ADDICTS

State Plans To Open 2 Facilities Devoted To Drug Treatment

The state will open two 200-bed prison units devoted entirely to
treating methamphetamine addicts over the next two years, aides to
Gov. Rod Blagojevich said last week .

One unit will open this year at Southwestern Illinois Correctional
Center in East St. Louis, which Blagojevich also plans to turn into a
center dedicated to drug treatment.

The other unit will open next year at the Sheridan Correctional
Center in Sheridan, a drug-treatment prison that the governor plans
to expand to its full capacity of 1,300 next year. That will make it
the largest inmate drug-treatment program of its kind in the nation,
according to Blagojevich's office.

State prison officials said the governor's plan, to be announced in
his State of the State address on Wednesday, will help stem a growing
tide of meth-related crimes and the criminals who flood the Illinois
penal system each year. By offering treatment, they hope to
discourage the use and manufacture of meth by inmates after their release.

Some treatment experts say methamphetamine addicts have unique needs
that require special attention, though the use of segregation as a
treatment approach is so new that the Illinois prisons would be among
the first to test it.

"All drugs affect your brain chemistry in some way, but meth is more
dramatic," said Deanne Benos, assistant director of the Illinois
Department of Corrections. "Because of the impact on the cognitive
skills of these individuals and their attention deficits, one thing
we're looking at doing is creating very small treatment groups."

Meth-related crimes are growing in Illinois, with incarcerations
rising from 6 in 1996 to 541 last year, according to state figures.
Although meth has been considered a mostly rural problem, law
enforcement officials in Cook County report a significant increase in
the amount of the drug seized since 1999.

Administration officials have already stepped up treatment in
Illinois prisons in an attempt to deter drug-related crimes in general.

Prisons in Indiana and Montana recently began experimenting with the
idea of segregating meth users for treatment, but there is little
data available to attest to the impact of the programs.

Because of the drug's effects on addicts, dedicated treatment is
beneficial, some experts say.

"You need to approach the meth addict a little differently," said
John Pugliese, head of program initiatives for Gateway Foundation,
the country's largest provider of prison drug treatment services.
"It's difficult initially for a person whose primary drug is meth to
settle down and even begin to participate in treatment."