ROWLAND, WALTERS VISIT WILLIMANTIC

WILLIMANTIC -- Gov. John G. Rowland, standing shoulder to shoulder with
national drug czar John Walters on Tuesday, said he was trying to bring
resources together to support drug treatment programs.

Rowland made his remarks during a visit to a Perception Programs facility
here. As the governor spoke, the program's staff and clients listened along
with state and local police and politicians.

When asked later about how state budget cuts would affect funding for
treatment programs, Rowland said, "everything is on the table for budget
discussion. Do I have an interest in keeping programs? Yes.

"Maybe there's better ways of doing things, and they have to be thoroughly
reviewed," he said.

Rowland also said that an additional $100,000 had been committed to the
statewide narcotics task force in Windham.

A local woman, Jeni Wright, stood outside the Perception House with a sign
that read: "Rowland, why do you cut drug treatment funding?"

The meeting, which also brought together officials from the state
Department of Children and Families and the state Department of Mental
Health and Addiction Services, was planned well in advance of recent
publicity surrounding heroin in the city.

"We contemplated having a meeting this week anyway," Rowland said, "let's
have this visit here in Willimantic because the (Hartford) Courant has
highlighted this tragic issue."

Rowland and Walters toured the Perception House and listened to the success
stories of two recovering addicts in the facility's carriage house, where
group meetings are generally held. A slide program by Thomas Kirk, DMHAS
commissioner, explained that while statewide cocaine use is on the decline
and marijuana use remains level, heroin use has been on the rise, up 10
percent since 1996.

"It's unfortunate that one town has crystallized the heroin issue," Rowland
said. "It's a problem we face as a state."

Walters said Connecticut "has been a model in linking programs and tying
case workers to individuals." He said efforts to keep people off drugs
starts in childhood. "We need to protect children from the dangers of
substance abuse, and we need to treat those who have the disease. There are
millions in recovery, and we need to support that. This state has been a
model we want to follow."