DRUG WAR SURVIVORS

Re "Drug war highs, lows," June 27: I am a UC Davis-trained
psychiatrist who has divided her time between public and private
sectors. After working in county mental health, I worked 10 years at
Folsom Prison. What most impressed me was that the overwhelming
majority of the inmates were there because of drugs and alcohol and/or
mental health problems. At that time (the 1990s), funds were being
drastically cut from county mental health, and prisons were being
rapidly built and expanded. Los Angeles County Jail was the largest
mental health care provider in the United States.

I currently specialize in dual diagnosis (addiction medicine and
psychiatric disorders), work at a methadone treatment clinic and see
some Proposition 36 people.

I know how long studies take (the one quoted is from 2001-2002), and I
know how long and how many repeated attempts it takes to achieve
sustained recovery from drugs and alcohol, especially with co-morbid
psychiatric disorders. But I also know that treating these disorders
in prison is the most costly and ineffective way to do it.

And I know the number of people I have worked with who are so very
grateful to Proposition 36.

Billie C. Harman, M.D., Sacramento