COUNTY LEADERS FOCUS ON DRUG ABUSE

Rutland County's leadership got together to talk drugs Monday.

About 30 community leaders met with Michael Smith, secretary of the Vermont
Agency of Health and Human Services, and Barbara Cimaglio, deputy
commissioner of health for alcohol and drug abuse programs, to find out
what the region needs for drug abuse treatment and prevention.

The meeting was one of a series Smith has organized.

"We've been around the state, talking to various groups and getting some
great ideas," he said. "Are things we're doing working? Where are the gaps,
if there are any?"

Smith said after taking over as secretary, he heard more and more from
people around the state that substance abuse was one of Vermont's primary
health issues.

"This issue got away from us in the 1990s," he said. "Gov. Douglas has
spent a lot of money, but we need to make sure we're connecting with what
you're seeing here."

Cimaglio said the state has two federal grants coming its way to fight drug
abuse. The first was an "incentive grant" of $2.3 million a year for five
years. Cimaglio said 85 percent of that money would be going directly to
communities, which can apply for the money to develop plans for drug
prevention.

The second is a grant to develop treatment programs for adolescents.

"There'll be several programs selected to work on the infrastructure for
adolescent services," she said.

People at the meeting included representatives from health care,
corrections, education and law enforcement. One issue that came up again
and again was the need for more treatment infrastructure, from secure
treatment beds to transitional housing facilities.

Nancy Spaulding-Ness from the Success School, which works with troubled
youth from the Rutland City schools, said one of the biggest challenges in
treating children for addiction is often their families.

"Even if kids go away for 30 days, they come back to the same environment,"
she said. "One of the things we joke about, but it's a reality, is group
homes. The families are dealing with so many issues. Maybe the kids need
some separation from that so everyone can heal."

One woman, who identified herself as deaf and an alcoholic, said there are
no treatment services for the hearing-impaired in the Rutland area.

"I think the last time we got an interpreter for a meeting was last June,"
she said in sign language as another woman translated. "I can't pay for an
interpreter, but I need to keep going to AA meetings. I understand we can't
go to meetings every day and have an interpreter, but I think twice a week
is a reasonable request."

Smith said this was the first he heard of the issue, and thanked the woman
for bringing it up.

Smith asked if the people in the room were interested in mobile methadone
clinics such as the ones being used in St. Johnsbury and Newport. Deputy
State's Attorney Peter Neary said such proposals would not be - and have
not been - well-received in Rutland

"There's been a political affirmation of not having a methadone treatment
facility here," he said.

Neary said the area's leadership might be interested in a clinic
distributing bupenorphine, another drug used to treat heroin addiction, but
that many people were concerned that methadone simply replaces one
addiction with another.

Bud Lile, director of substance abuse services at Rutland Regional Medical
Center, said people are dependent on methadone in the same sense diabetics
are dependent on insulin.

"The goal is never to wean a diabetic off insulin," he said. "There's 40
years of science that backs up the use of methadone. It's a well-studied
drug. It's safe, effective and reliant. We can treat a client with
methadone, totally, for just the cost of bupenorphine."

While much of the talk was on treatment, Neary said an eye on prevention is
a must.

"Once you put the needle in your arm, you're a long-term problem for the
state of Vermont," he said. "You're not kicking the habit in 90 days. We
need to have kids saying that's not something they want to be dealing with."