TREAT DON'T IMPRISON

The Monday, Aug. 8 article "Local pastors rally around Proposition 36' was
refreshing. Giving the addict an opportunity to participate in a treatment
program rather than prison has been a godsend for many of the recovering
addicts that I know.

I have been sober and in recovery for the past 20 years. I was not given
that chance when I was arrested for drug related offenses 28 years ago.

As Ken Fisher who was quoted in the article said, "when I was in jail, I
was just making better connections for nefarious activities. When I was
released from my jail stint, I went right back to substance abuse without
any understanding of the addiction process or of the coping skills needed
to combat my urges; skills taught in treatment programs.'

An estimated 14 percent of our population suffers from the disease of
addiction whether to licit (alcohol or nicotine) or illicit substances.
Some think that figure is low.

The cost of this on our society in terms of dollars, lost productivity,
health care and broken families would be prohibitive.

One dollar of treatment is worth $7 of the cost of jails, institutions and
death. One recovered person affects a minimum of five people in a positive
manner (mostly family members).

These are figures released by the Substance Abuse Mental Health Services
Administration, a government-funded agency. And yet, the majority of monies
addressing this endemic illness in our culture is still spent on
interdiction, stopping the supply rather than dealing with the demand.

Are politicians not reading the reports paid for by our tax dollars? Or, do
they just not believe them? The under-funding of treatment programs such as
Allen House, Cider House, Foley House, H.O.W. House, Mid Valley Recovery
Center and Spiritt Family Services that service residents of the Whittier-
San Gabriel Valley areas competing for precious resources. I have talked to
directors in all of these programs and universally they lament the
inadequacy of funds available to them. Approximately 30 percent of the
people who enter a treatment program remain sober for five years or longer.

With better funding that number could be much higher. Family treatment,
early intervention and better access to health care are some of the
deficits that treatment agencies are forced to contend with because of a
lack of sufficient capital.

As executive director of The H.O.W. House, I know Proposition 36 and drug
courts are a step in the right direction. SB 803 is just business as usual.
James Wilson, program director of Cider House put it well, "If
incarceration worked, we wouldn't have such high recidivism rates with our
traditional punitive system.'

Mark Scott

Whittier