DON'T NEGLECT TREATING DRUG ABUSE

If Virginia lets dire budget constraints erode programs to treat
addictions, the costs will only multiply.

VIRGINIA'S budget woes are so grim, they threaten to jeopardize drug- and
alcohol-treatment programs that salvage lives and save money.

Yes, money. The lack of some human services can cost more than the services
themselves, and substance abuse treatment is one.

Gov. Mark Warner pledged last month that he would try to spare mental
health programs from the budget ax. Even a governor's protection, though,
may not be enough to keep intact vital programs that Virginia already
underfunds.

The state's anemic revenues fall so short of its needs that by the time the
blood-letting is over on spending, Warner warned, "It may include
re-examining programs that traditionally have been off the table."

A 15 percent cut, the largest envisioned in the various slasher scenarios
that state agencies have been asked to imagine, would amount to about $11
million for community substance abuse treatment programs.

That may not sound like much in a state budget tallied in the billions.
But, a spokesman for the Coalition for Mentally Disabled Citizens of
Virginia explains, these programs already are horribly underfunded. Budget
cuts would almost surely become staff cuts, and that would translate into
reduced services.

Community-based programs to treat addictions served 60,000 Virginians last
year, and still have waiting lists. The needs are acute. If the numbers of
treated decline and the numbers on waiting lists grow, alcohol- and
drug-dependent people and their families will pay a price. And so will the
communities where they live, and taxpayers throughout the state.

When treatment is unavailable, far costlier alternatives fill the void:
unemployment, homelessness, incarceration.

A smart businessman like Warner knows that sometimes you have to spend
money to make money. Sometimes, too, you have to spend money to avoid
spending more money.

If, in handing out tax rebates, Virginia is unable to keep its social
infrastructure in good repair, the bill will come due - compounded.