RUSH SHOULD PUT HIS PULL TO WORK HELPING ADDICTS

"Too many whites are getting away with drug use. The answer is to find the
ones who are getting away with it, convict them, and send them up the
river." -- Rush Limbaugh in 1995

Now that Rush Limbaugh is the one struggling to overcome the relentless grip
of drug addiction, I suspect he may have changed his mind about how to treat
drug addicts.

Convicting drug addicts and sending them up the river is the last thing
addicts need. What addicts need is not jail but treatment, which Limbaugh
now knows from painful experience. As for "finding the ones who are getting
away with it," -- no one gets away with drug addiction.

In fact, in the nightmare world of drug addiction, the addicts who get
caught are the lucky ones. They, at least, have a shot at getting help. The
poor addicts who slip beyond the net of law enforcement or treatment
programs usually turn up dead.

What I'm holding my breath to see is how the matter of Rush Limbaugh's
personal odyssey with Oxycontin and Vicodin plays out in the world of
conservative politicians who have come to rely on the acid-tongued pundit's
tart endorsements to bolster their own agendas.

Will Limbaugh be prosecuted and sent to jail for persuading his maid to
purchase tens of thousands of illegal pain pills for him? Other people who
have done far less are sitting in jails as we speak, with little hope that
someone will show them mercy. And even the substance abuse programs in jails
have been threatened by budget cuts.

The problem with addiction is that like diabetes, it doesn't go away.
Addictive illnesses require a lifelong program of treatment, counseling,
intensive support networks, and the understanding that relapse is often part
of the disease.

We do not send diabetics to jail if they fall off the wagon and eat cake or
candy. Even if they get sick, which happens frequently when they can't
control their sweet tooth, we afford them compassionate medical care until
they're back on their feet again. We do not cancel their health insurance
because they "were bad."

Nor do we arrest people for smoking. Nicotine has been shown to be as
addictive as heroin, and every bit as hard to kick. When a smoker gets lung
cancer or heart disease or a dozen other diseases directly linked to tobacco
smoke, we do not refuse them medical care.

Alcoholics who drink peacefully are allowed to drink themselves to death if
they want to and no one throws them in jail for it. In fact, they can buy
their drug of choice legally until the day they die if they're still able to
get out to the liquor store.

But those who are unfortunate enough to develop an addiction other than
sugar, caffeine, nicotine or alcohol are the pariahs of society -- condemned
to criminal behavior to secure their drug, jailed if they're caught, dropped
by their insurance companies, and left on their own to find treatment
options which scarcely exist any more.

Shame on us.

Not so very long ago, drug addicts and alcoholics had at least a fighting
chance if they wanted to kick their addictions. As late as the 1980s, most
major health plans provided an adequate number of days per year for
substance abuse treatment. This "days per year" policy acknowledged that
relapse is a part of the addiction cycle that must be treated, and made
adequate provision for it.

As a substance abuse counselor in Morristown Memorial Hospital in New
Jersey, my biggest frustration was not a lack of treatment options, but the
fact that most addicts and alcoholics were uninsured and therefore did not
qualify for the many excellent programs that were available.

But even then, there was hope for addicts who desperately wanted help and
were willing to be patient. Turning Point in Verona, N.J., was free to those
who met residency requirements. The waiting list was long, but it was
well-worth the wait.

As late as the early 1990s, the Asheville-Hendersonville area had Charter,
Appalachian Hall and a substance abuse program in the Transylvania hospital.
Now we must wait to see what will happen to the few substance abuse
treatment options left in Henderson and Buncombe counties as state budget
cuts threaten to allocate the scarce funds that are available to other
mental health care needs. There simply isn't enough money to go around.

Back to Rush.

Maybe now that Mr. Limbaugh has met the devil face to face and had to deal
with him to get the drugs he needed, he will use his power, his influence,
and most importantly, his airtime, to do something more meaningful than
endorsing the conservative Republican agenda.

Hopefully Mr. Limbaugh will speak the truth from the core of his own bitter
experience, an experience which still falls far short of the agonizing
hopelessness faced by tens of thousands of addicts who don't have his money
to pay for a good rehab and his connections to keep them out of jail.

It is more than a little ironic that in drug slang, a "rush" is a quick,
intense high. Mr. Limbaugh is quick and he is intense. He has painted
himself as one who ties half of his brain behind his back just to keep the
playing field level.

We can only hope that now he will be moved with the compassion born of
experience to untie that half on behalf of the addicts who could use an
insightful spokesman to champion their cause.

Conservative causes come and go and there will always be one more politician
to buddy up to.

But without help, without treatment, drug addiction is forever.