Pubdate: Mon, 30 Sep 2002
Source: Union Leader (NH)
Copyright: 2002 The Union Leader Corp.
Contact:  http://www.theunionleader.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/761

NH DRUG CHIEF SAYS PUBLIC MISCONCEPTION A PROBLEM

CONCORD (AP) -- The state's top drug officials sees a litany of missed 
opportunities when it comes to helping people overcome addictions, but he's 
working on improvements.

Riley Regan has been director of the New Hampshire Division of Alcohol and 
Drug Abuse Prevention and Recovery for less than a year. But he isn't 
inexperienced -- in addition to holding a similar job in New Jersey, he 
knows what it's like to be an addict.

"I was in recovery myself. I had a little bit of a heroin problem," he 
said. "I'm in my 36th year of alcohol recovery. I ended up on the other 
side of the criminal justice system.

"The key is getting somebody early, long before chronic illness, before 
they lose their job, before family violence issues," he said. "There's a 
real need to develop some alternatives to jail."

While there are private treatment centers in the state, their numbers are 
declining.

"Most programs we fund are basically full and have waiting lists," he said.

Another problem is a lack of connection between levels of government. For 
example, the state recently secured federal funding for client-run halfway 
houses but failed to open any, therefore foregoing the money.

Regan estimates 70 percent of the prison population is addicted to alcohol 
or drugs. And experience has taught him that if judges can choose treatment 
over jail, they often will.

He recently requested $2 million from the state, half for prevention 
programs and half for planning.

"I'm going to put forth a task force in New Hampshire to look at the 
emerging heroin problem, see what treatment is needed and how much we need 
to regulate programs," he said.

Regan believes heroin has become a much bigger problem than most people 
realize. With that and other drugs, people too often associate substance 
abuse with mental illness, poverty or crime, he said.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jo-D