MAYOR OFFERS PLAN TO HELP FIGHT DRUG ADDICTION

Confronting drug addiction ravaging some Boston neighborhoods, Mayor Thomas
M. Menino yesterday unveiled a program to fund acupuncture detoxification
and a methadone-like pill.

"Substance abuse is a human issue. It's our sister, our brothers, our
cousins, our neighbors," said Menino in South Boston yesterday, one of the
city's hardest-hit neighborhoods. "We're all in this together."

Heroin-related hospitalizations have increased 78 percent in the last two
years, heroin-related deaths have increased 500 percent in the last 10
years and OxyContin use has skyrocketed in the last three years, said John
Auerbach, executive director of the Boston Public Health Commission.

The city program will spend just $180,000 - a pittance compared to the more
than $12 million in substance abuse funds the state has cut in the past
three years.

But Auerbach said the money was targeted on inexpensive ways to make a
difference. The cash will double the number of health-commission-sponsored
acupuncture detox visits to 3,000-a-year. Acupuncture can help addicts get
off drugs by relieving withdrawal symptoms, officials said.

It will also double the number of Boston doctors - from five to 10 - who
can prescribe Buprenorphine, a methadone-like pill that can be given in a
doctor's office to cut down cravings for heroin, OxyContin and other
opiates. The new funding will also offer grants to community groups.