IMPROVING DRUG TREATMENT OPTIONS IMPORTANT

Assistant U.S. Attorney Kent Wicker sounded a warning last summer when he
said that the battle against methamphetamine was making progress in the
areas of enforcement and education but was a failure in terms of treatment.

Options are limited, Wicker said, and available treatment opportunities
have not been terribly successful.

His comments weren't meant to be a knock on the local treatment community,
but rather an admission that treatment is the one area that often gets
overlooked as a community struggles to get a hold on its drug problem.

Local officials seem to have taken note as several leaders met last week to
address Owensboro's lack of adequate treatment facilities, both for adults
and adolescents.

One local judge estimates that up to 80 percent of the cases he hears are
related to drugs or alcohol. Studies put the total cost for substance abuse
in Kentucky at about $3.9 billion annually. So the move to examine the need
for a treatment center is not only welcomed, it's one local leaders had to
make.

Owensboro officials already have toured a residential facility in
Louisville, and RiverValley Prevention Center is working with the Kentucky
Agency for Substance Abuse Policy to identify needs and pinpoint where gaps
in treatment exist. That study should be completed this month.

Ideally, the area needs a facility that can provide individualized
inpatient treatment for up to 90 days, then monitor intensive outpatient
therapy. The city is looking at property to locate a treatment facility,
City Commissioner Olive Burroughs said.

But, as is the case in so many areas, bricks and mortar are not what is
most important here. To their credit, those doing the needs assessment seem
to realize that it's the programs, not where they are provided, that will
make the difference.

The opportunity may exist for needed treatment options to be provided by
existing agencies. The ongoing RiverValley and Kentucky ASAP study will be
important in determining where services may overlap and what can be done to
make better use of the resources already available.

Mike Todd, director of substance abuse services for the Regional Chemical
Dependency program in Henderson, says he doesn't think there is a need for
another facility. His program is not at capacity, an indication that the
possibility for collaboration of services exists. Whether that's the case
remains to be seen, but the option should be explored.

It may turn out that a new facility is the best option for Owensboro, and
if that proves true, it's a project local officials will need to explore.
But because drug treatment is a vital factor in the community's future, it
will be imperative that local officials get the maximum results from the
limited resources available.