DRUG PROBLEMS DEMAND TREATMENT

The scariest drug around is no longer crack cocaine but methamphetamine.
People addicted to it often neglect and abuse their spouses and children.
They need to be returned to productive, responsible roles in society. Drug
treatment is more likely than prison to accomplish this.

The crack cocaine epidemic of the 1980s scared us into disproportionate
sentencing laws between crack and powder cocaine and the incarceration of a
substantial percentage of our young African American males. The state
Sentencing Guidelines Commission is recommending to the Legislature that we
undo the damage done in overreacting to that scare by giving all drugs the
same sentencing range for possession and by lowering the sentences for
non-violent drug crimes.

In Washington state, only 18.3 percent of low-income adults who need
chemical dependency treatment are able to get it.

Gov. Gary Locke's budget includes 18.7 percent cuts in budget of the
Division of Alcohol and Substance Abuse, including a 24 percent cut in one
category of long-term residential treatment called Recovery House beds. The
governor's budget does not include any funds for the substantial expansion
of community-based drug treatment envisioned by the Sentencing Guidelines
Commission and sponsors of proposed legislation to lower prison terms.

Rep. Ruth Kagi of Lake Forest Park and Rep. Al O'Brien of Mountlake
Terrace, new chair of the House Criminal Justice and Corrections Committee,
along with the state Association of Prosecuting Attorneys, the King County
and state bar associations, the Washington State Medical Association,
prosecutors and drug court judges are among those working to shape
legislation to redirect those convicted of non- violent drug crimes into
community-based drug treatment.

A recent report by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at
Columbia University (Shoveling Up: The Impact of Substance Abuse on State
Budgets) showed the public spending for 1998 to "shovel up the wreckage of
substance abuse cost the state of Washington $1.51 billion --more than 10
percent of the state budget." We must fund drug treatment. We can't afford
not to.

Most of the costs of addiction are uncontrolled costs in the state budget.
These entitlements are in medical care and emergency room visits, temporary
aid to needy families, foster care, and the judicial and corrections
systems. People aren't entitled to treatment for substance abuse, even
though it would save the state millions.

According to a February 2001 Pew Research Center poll, the public is ahead
of their elected officials. The majority of Americans (52 percent) believe
that drug use should be treated as a disease, compared to 35 percent who
favor treating it as a crime. Among rural residents, drug abuse is the
leading community problem, with 16 percent citing it as their top concern;
61 percent of rural residents are concerned about family members becoming
involved with drugs.

The report of the Sentencing Guidelines Commission emphatically recommends
that the Department of Corrections savings be set aside for chemical
dependency treatment and community supervision. "Outpatient drug treatment
coupled with close court supervision and monitoring ... is a much less
costly way" of getting drug treatment. Yet the state has invested in
prison-based treatment, and federal funding for some of our drug courts is
running out.

We can't afford the addiction-related costs of welfare, medical or foster
care. In Washington state, approximately 68 percent of parents or guardians
of children needing foster care are substance abusers. Emergency rooms
report 60 to 80 percent of trauma cases involved alcohol and/or drugs. We
must break the cycle of addiction. We can't afford not to.

We know that treatment works. A Washington state study found that criminal
arrests declined from 61 percent in the year before treatment to 8 percent
during treatment. Surprisingly, research shows that coerced substance abuse
treatment is just as effective as voluntary treatment (Journal of Substance
Abuse Treatment 2000).

Meanwhile, we currently have a crisis in inpatient drug treatment funding.
Because of the state budget crunch, we are scheduled to lose 72 Recovery
House treatment beds. More and better-funded Recovery House beds are needed
to support recovering addicts in their efforts to find jobs and to live
clean and sober lives. Like all substance abusers, meth addicts need to
leave behind much of their former lives. They need these employment
services and supportive housing provided by Recovery House beds in order to
create new, productive lives.

Adequate funding for chemical dependency treatment is the best way to
control the state budget for medicaid, corrections, Child Protective
Services and needy families. Closing prison beds and not treating the
addiction fails to capture these other savings in the state budget. It also
results in repeat offenses against the community.

We must break the cycle of addiction. We can't afford not to.