DPH CHIEF PROMISES NEW ANTI-DRUG DETAILS SOON

Under pressure from lawmakers reacting to widening alcohol and drug abuse
epidemics, a top Romney administration official on Monday pledged to
present the administration's strategic plan to a legislative committee in
two weeks. Interim Public Health Commissioner Paul Cote agreed to make the
May 16 presentation to the Legislature's new Committee on Mental Health
and Substance Abuse during an informational hearing that lasted more than
six hours, at which there was general agreement that abuse is spreading
faster than government's ability to successfully respond to it.

Cote said the administration began work on its plan last fall. In the
ensuing months, administration officials have talked with treatment
providers and experts, as well as court, corrections and parole officials.
According to Department of Public Health data submitted to the committee
this week, Massachusetts ranks as one of the states with the highest unmet
need for treatment, has higher rates of adult binge drinking than the
nation as a whole and is seeing rising rates of opiate-related fatal
overdoses and hospitalizations. Many ideas to address the problem surfaced
at the hearing, including increased education and awareness, tougher
prosecution of drug dealers, additional funding for treatment programs,
mandatory reporting to help detail addiction problems, and a larger role
for parents in both listening to their children and responding to their needs.

The hearing also featured a new warning about potential federal funding
penalties and one lawmaker storming out after the administration confirmed
the closing of a Boston Harbor halfway house known as Project Rebound.
Department of Public Health officials confirmed that Project Rebound is
scheduled to close, sparking protests from South Boston lawmakers whose
districts have been slammed by the impact of young people addicted to
heroin and Oxycontin. Rep. Brian Wallace, D-South Boston, unhappy about
the confirmation, got up and left the hearing.

Before leaving, Wallace said young addicts he knows call short-term detox
programs "five-day spin cycles" and he said the 90 beds at Project Rebound
on Long Island, offering 90-day residential stays, are more effective.
Rep. Martin Walsh, D-South Boston, said the Democrat-controlled
Legislature bears responsibility for cutting substance abuse programs.
"We've cut the hell out of them," Walsh said. "Detox beds are our first
line of defense."

Department officials said their budgets include enough money to support
about 450 to 500 publicly funded detox beds, down from 900 beds during
better budgetary times. Cote explained after the hearing that Project
Rebound did not make the cut during a recent round of procurement. But he
assured the committee he'd look into it personally.

Committee co-chairman Sen. Steven Tolman, D-Brighton, indicated he intends
to address Project Rebound in the upcoming Senate budget proposal and
urged Cote to discuss the issue with lawmakers "sooner rather than later."
Tolman said there's a need for more vigorous education campaigns about the
dangers of Oxycontin and heroin. "I think we have to be more effective at
getting the message out to kids that you can't try it, it's a suicide
pact." Rep. David Sullivan, D-Fall River, suggested another way of
delivering substance abuse treatment. Sullivan said treatment coverage was
not included in a mental health parity law approved in 2000 because
business and insurance industry leaders objected to it. Now, Sullivan
said, lawmakers should revisit the topic. He said he hopes business
leaders would be interested in such supporting coverage because more
addicts with jobs are missing workdays. Lawmakers used the word "epidemic"
repeatedly to describe the problem in Massachusetts, particularly among
young people. Norfolk County District Attorney William Keating said heroin
overdoses account for five deaths per month in that county. With drugs
harming everyone from National Honor Society members to the sons
and daughters of school and law enforcement officials, Keating said, a Web
site he launched - www.learn2cope.org - is attracting more and more
parents to weekly meetings where they share stories and information.
Keating said parents must be more involved. He said he has also listened
to many students, including middle schoolers.

"They're telling me that their parents don't even want to know what
they're doing," he said.

Wallace said some parents sanction marijuana and beer consumption by
saying, "it's only marijuana or it's only beer." Keating concurred. "'It's
only marijuana' is a generic term now," he said. Rep. John Scibak, D-South
Hadley, said the problem was once associated mostly with the "dregs of
society," and may get more attention from decision makers now that it's
causing problems throughout society.

Cote also urged lawmakers to approve a $9.1 million substance abuse
treatment funding request made by Gov. Romney in January by the end of
this fiscal year (June 30), to both expand services and avoid being hit
with a $5.4 million "maintenance of effort" penalty in fiscal 2006.

"That's a price that we just can't afford to pay," said Cote. Committee
co-chairwoman Rep. Ruth Balser, D-Newton, said that based on talks with
House budget writers, she is confident funding will be approved. Cote said
the $9.1 million appropriation would address some, but far from all of the
nearly 40,000 people who Brandeis University researchers recently
determined are seeking treatment at a specialty substance abuse treatment
facility, but can't access it, often to due financial reasons.