EXPANDING DRUG ABUSE TREATMENT PROGRAMS

A May 14 Blade editorial said the third defeat of a Lucas County Alcohol
and Drug Addiction Services levy should now occasion "a realistic appraisal
of drug and alcohol services in Lucas County and how to pay for them."

There is one clear opportunity on the horizon to expand funding for needed
addiction-treatment programs: a statewide ballot measure voters will decide
in November. The Ohio Drug Treatment Initiative will require drug treatment
instead of jail time for first- and second-time nonviolent drug offenders.

It pays to expand treatment with $38 million per year in new funds, and it
will restore state-funded drug treatment budgets to fiscal year 2001 levels
for six years. Like all ballot measures with fiscal appropriations, the
initiative is styled as a constitutional amendment.

Unlike the tax levies, this initiative is popular with voters. An August,
2001, Buckeye State poll showed 74 percent support for the measure. The
difference is that voters see a clearer choice: spend $22,000 per year on a
prison cell for a drug abuser, or treat the addiction at a cost more like
$3,500 per year. At the state level, the initiative will almost surely save
money.

Many supporters of the levy campaigns have already taken positions against
trying again in November - The Blade and Toledo Mayor Jack Ford among them.
It is time to rethink these positions and to avoid another defeat for drug
and alcohol treatment services.

EDWARD J. ORLETT Manager Ohio Campaign for New Drug Policies Columbus