Pubdate: Wed, 06 Sep 2000
Source: Santa Barbara News-Press (CA)
Copyright: 2000 Santa Barbara News-Press
Contact:  P.O. Box 1359, Santa Barbara, CA 93102
Website: http://www.newspress.com/
Author: Mark Van De Kamp, News-Press Staff Writer, PUBLIC DETOX CENTER SOUGHT

A recovery group clamoring for establishment of a detoxification facility 
in Santa Barbara is planning a rally and march Sunday in Santa Barbara.

Community Recovery Network members say it's time for local, state and 
federal politicians to stop bucking responsibility for funding and deliver 
more than token praise.

Santa Barbara does not have a public detox center. Since 1996, Santa 
Barbarans seeking such care have been directed to either Santa Maria or 
Ventura for affordable treatment.

The county funds outpatient drug-assisted detox for heroin addiction, and 
acupuncture services are available on an outpatient basis. Cottage Hospital 
operates an inpatient service at a cost of about $1,000 per day.

The network wants to use the occasion of national Alcohol and Drug 
Addiction Recovery Month (this month) to raise awareness about the need for 
an affordable center. The event also will remind the community about the 
cost of substance abuse.

"Our goal is to increase recovery and treatment services for substance 
abusers who want to come clean," said group member Sonya Baker. "Ever since 
our inception, the top priority for our membership is an affordable detox 
center. It's the membership that's driving this, including a lot of parents."

Honey Nelson said she lost her son, Michael "Bo" Nelson, last year to 
drug-related problems. He grew up in Santa Barbara and as a teen-ager got 
involved with drugs.

To pay tribute to her son and to raise awareness, Nelson is helping to lead 
Sunday's rally.

"There's probably no family that isn't touched by someone with an alcohol 
or substance abuse problem," Nelson said.

A detox center treats individuals for a minimum of 72 hours, allowing them 
to completely detoxify, and for an optimum time of seven to 21 days. Detox 
is only one stage in the process of recovery.

But only after patients have completed detoxification can they get 
effective treatment in a variety of programs, Baker said.

"As an advocacy program, we need to keep putting the pressure on the 
politicians, or they'll keep putting it off," Baker said.

The rally will begin at 1:30 p.m. at Veracruz Park, commonly called Haley 
Park or Needle Park. Baker said that's where some indigent alcoholics and 
addicts end up kicking the habit since they have nowhere else to go.

 From the park, the group will march from Haley Street to State Street and 
then to De la Guerra Plaza. There, several people recovering from substance 
abuse will give talks.

Speakers at the rally will include Community Recovery Network Director Alex 
Brumbaugh, Assemblywoman Hannah-Beth Jackson, D-Santa Barbara; Superior 
Court Judge Frank Ochoa; and City Council members Gregg Hart, Gil Garcia 
and Rusty Fairly. Ruby's Cafe will sell enchilada plates with partial 
proceeds benefiting the network.

Santa Barbara is full of social services to help the needy, but alcoholics 
and drug addicts remain underserved and a residential detox center is one 
of the area's most pressing needs, according to a poll conducted last year 
of 600 network members.

But there are many barriers to establishing a center in Santa Barbara. 
Money is one obstacle. Declining reimbursement from private insurance 
companies, opposition from merchants to a center downtown, and lack of 
local, organized advocacy for a center are viewed as impediments to the 
project.
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