REHAB CENTER GETS FUNDS

The construction of the Provincial Drug Rehabilitation Center in Dumaguete
City is expected to be completed and operational before the year ends.

Already, about P6.7 million has been appropriated for the facility in
Barangay Talay that can house up to 30 patients at one time.

For the 2002 budget, the Provincial Board of Negros Oriental appropriated an
additional P200,00 for the training of its personnel and for the purchase of
supplies, materials and equipment, and another P500,000 for its operational
funds.

Meanwhile, the Negros Oriental Drug Abuse and Prevention Council has
approved the adoption of a treatment program for drug patients who will
undergo rehabilitation at the Provincial Drug Rehabilitation Center in
Talay.

The 12 Steps program is a voluntary, self-help program, patterned after that
of the New Beginnings Foundation Inc., the first unlocked residential
treatment center in Metro Manila. The center caters to both the addicted
person and his family in addressing the drug dependency cycle.

However, if the provincial drug council discovers in the process that the 12
steps method proves ineffective, it may opt for another modality.

Selected applicants for counselor, nurse, social worker, and psychologist
will be trained at the New Beginnings in July.

The drug council has also purchased a weighing scale costing P70,000 to be
used at the PNP crime laboratory to for accurate weight measurement of
seized illegal drugs before presentation in court.