METHADONE PROGRAM FACES FINANCE HURDLES

Treatment is Needed For Area Addicts, But Kicking the Habit Doesn't
Come Cheap

PEORIA - Every day, Curtis Smith estimates he turns away two or three
people who come in search of methadone to reduce their craving for
street drugs like heroin.

"I've got 40 people out there waiting to get on treatment that need to
get on treatment," said Smith, a clinician for the Human Service
Center's methadone outpatient program in Peoria.

Developed in the 1940s by the Germans as a synthetic painkiller,
methadone is a replacement drug now commonly used to reduce both the
cravings for opiates and the potential physical harm to users from
street drugs and needles.

Organizers of a local needle exchange program have maintained that
their service is essential because there is a severe shortage of
methadone treatment slots available in the community.

The demand is coming in from not just Peoria, but Bloomington-Normal,
Canton, Pekin and other cities in the region. The closest methadone
clinics outside Peoria are in Decatur, Springfield, the Quad Cities
and Kankakee.

"There is a need for having more availability for treatment but the
ability to finance them is a problem," said Dr. John Gilligan of the
Peoria-based Fayette Companies whose subsidiary companies, the Human
Service Center and White Oaks Companies of Illinois, offer the program.

Human Service Center is contracted by the state to provide alcohol and
other drug treatments for those who are unable to pay for them.

Brian Coon, who manages the methadone treatment program, said no one
is turned away because of the inability to pay.

At present, about 50 people use the methadone program, with a waiting
list of 47.

It is important to note, Coon said, that those who seek treatment
voluntarily or are referred by physicians or the criminal justice
system represent just a small segment of the population who abuse drugs.

"Ours is a step toward being free from all drugs, but the reality is,
not all addicts can take that step," Gilligan said.

Larry Rogers of the Heart of Illinois HIV/AIDS Center says when
methadone clinics can't take new patients immediately, it interrupts
the path users take to get off drugs.

"Typically, people need to go through several steps, and it can be an
uphill struggle to get a user motivated to take those steps, (let
alone) get them through those steps when they are motivated," he said.

The average length of treatment at the local methadone clinic is about
four years and the success rate is about 70 percent, although Coon
would not put it in those terms.

"Our urine testing shows that about 70 percent of our clients remain
opiate-free," he said.

The cost, largely borne by the state, is $323 per person per month,
Coon said.

The privately-run Illinois Institute for Addiction Recovery at Proctor
Hospital uses an alternative approach to helping drug users come clean
- - abstinence.

The first goal is to withdraw them, using non-addictive drugs that
reduce the nausea, muscle spasms, bone aches and stomach discomfort
experienced by withdrawing addicts, said administrative director
Randee McGraw.

Methadone is not used.

"It's just a decision that our physicians have made. It's a
philosophical decision," McGraw said.

It's a three-to seven-day process, which is combined with therapy and
treatment that may last for a year.

The average cost for intensive inpatient treatment is $500 to $700 per
day, said Rick Zehr of the Proctor program. The cost is reduced as
patients progress to outpatient care.

The addiction recovery program does not receive state or federal
funding. Patients pay out of their own pockets or, in some cases,
insurance covers part of the costs.