Pubdate: Fri, 11 May 2001
Source: Repository, The
Copyright: 2001 The Repository
Contact:  http://www.cantonrep.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/954
Author: Joseph A. Califano Jr., The Washington Post
Note: Joseph A. Califano Jr. was secretary of health, education and welfare 
from 1977 to 1979. He is president of the National Center on Addiction and 
Substance Abuse at Columbia University.

FEAR CAN BE A GREAT MOTIVATOR IN TREATING DRUG ADDICTS

The relapses of actor Robert Downey Jr. and athlete Darryl Strawberry are 
being cited by extremists at both ends of the drug policy debate: those 
arguing for legalization and those pressing to lock up addicts and throw 
away the keys. These are hard cases, but we should not let them make bad 
policy. Both extremes are policies of despair that ignore the success of 
efforts to date and misread the lessons these tragic cases offer.

Drug use in the United States peaked in 1979 and 1980. Since then, despite 
the 55 million increase in the general population, the number of drug users 
has dropped 50 percent. If teen pregnancy, new AIDS cases, domestic 
violence or breast cancer had plummeted 50 percent, corks would be popping 
across the nation.

There are lessons to be derived from the tragic experiences of Downey and 
Strawberry. Lesson One is the need for more effective efforts to prevent 
experimentation with drugs such as marijuana.

Downey was given his first joint at age 6 by a father who then thought it 
was "cute." Downey and Strawberry began their drug experience with 
marijuana and alcohol, as do virtually all individuals who get hooked on 
cocaine and heroin. This should remind us that the only sure way not to get 
hooked is not to experiment.

Lesson Two is the need for research on motivating addicts to enter 
treatment, stay there and continue in aftercare.

President Bush's proposed budget increases of 16 percent for the National 
Institute on Drug Abuse and 11 percent for the National Institute on 
Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism are steps in the right direction, but fall far 
short of the kind of commitment this nation would make if we recognized 
that we are dealing with the country's No. 1 disease and stopped 
stigmatizing addicts as modern-day lepers.

To appreciate the difficulty of shaking an addiction, just think how hard 
it is to lose weight and keep it off for any extended period of time. 
Multiply that by a million to get a sense of what it is like to give up a 
drug forever after your brain has flipped on the addiction switch. A few 
weeks in a treatment program followed by prompt return to the stress of a 
weekly TV sitcom or baseball pennant contender is an express ticket to relapse.

Lesson Three is that both these guys are victims of the pressure to get 
back on the stage and playing field, expensive lawyers who got them out of 
coerced treatment well before they were able to lay a solid foundation for 
recovery, and the easy availability of drugs.

Availability is a key factor in drug use. Downey and Strawberry easily got 
the stuff for a high once they were released or escaped from custody.

Law enforcement that curbs availability can play a vital role. Stephen 
Gaghan, screenwriter for the film "Traffic" and a recovering addict, sought 
treatment out of desperation on the weekend his dealer and his two backup 
dealers were arrested. Neither legalizing drugs nor locking up addicts 
without providing treatment makes any sense.

There are two legal drugs in America -- alcohol and nicotine -- and we have 
more than 60 million nicotine addicts and 15 million to 20 million 
alcoholics. We have 4 million to 6 million regular illegal drug users, a 
number that would soar like Jack's beanstalk if marijuana, cocaine and 
heroin were as available as Budweiser, Marlboros and Jack Daniel's. Such a 
step would be especially destructive to our children, since in our free 
society we have shown little ability to keep legal drugs such as beer and 
tobacco out of their hands.

Locking up addicts without providing treatment ensures their return to 
crime and incarceration. Alcohol and drug addicts released from prison 
without receiving treatment are almost certain to get high on their first 
day out and shortly thereafter to slip back into criminal conduct: robbery, 
assault, rape, selling drugs.

Evaluations of drug courts by the National Center on Addiction and 
Substance Abuse at Columbia University have found that coerced treatment works.

Many prosecutors, such as Brooklyn District Attorney Joe Hynes, believe 
treatment entered under fear of going to prison is often more effective 
than purely voluntary treatment. In this sense, the tragedy of Downey and 
Strawberry is not so much that they have been criminally charged; it is 
that their special status and access to high-powered lawyers denied them 
the motivation to accept appropriate treatment for a sufficiently long time 
- -- at least a year -- to get their act together.
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