Pubdate: Sun, 14 Mar 2004
Source: Denver Post (CO)
Copyright: 2004 The Denver Post Corp
Contact:  http://www.denverpost.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/122
Author: Adam Brickner
Note: Adam Brickner is director of Denver's Office of Drug Strategy, which 
is part of the Denver Department of Human Services.
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/rehab.htm (Treatment)

ABUSE PREVENTION SHOULD BE PRIORITY

Substance abuse and addiction not only cause significant harm to Colorado 
families, but also carry a hefty price tag for our community. Colorado 
loses roughly $4.4 billion annually and Denver loses $1.5 billion annually 
in productivity, medical costs and criminal justice costs, in addition to 
the incalculable toll in human suffering.

Addiction is a humbling, painful disease that takes whatever life one has 
and alters it to fit a new reality in which the addiction controls 
behavior. Drug addiction is a brain disease. This is true of all harmful 
addictions, including gambling, eating disorders, smoking, alcoholism, 
prescription drug abuse, illegal drugs and even sex.

No one starts a behavior thinking it may result in a life-threatening 
disease. But when these behaviors become unhealthy addictions, they take 
over a person's brain to the extent that it is, in fact, a disease.

Almost everyone knows someone who has been touched by addiction. 
Eradicating addiction is impossible, but reducing the harm caused by 
illegal substance abuse is not. We can "push back" against these behaviors. 
Education is key in addressing the misperception that some addictive drugs 
are harmless. There is strong evidence that the more people are educated 
about the individual risks of taking drugs, the less likely they are to 
engage in the behavior.

Yet, despite substantial scientific evidence that treatment and prevention 
programs are effective, Colorado and many other states still spend most of 
their federal funding dealing with the consequences of abuse and addiction 
rather than on preventing these problems. According to a study by Columbia 
University, Colorado spends only 6 cents for every $100 in federal money it 
receives on substance abuse research, prevention and treatment. This places 
Colorado last among the 47 states represented in that study, in which the 
average expenditure on these programs was $3.70 of every $100.

Tobacco and alcohol currently cause more harm to our community than all 
illegal drugs combined. Tobacco is the leading cause of preventable death 
and disease in Colorado, costing the state more than $1 billion in related 
health care costs. Eighty to 90 percent of all adults who are currently 
addicted to tobacco started smoking before they were 18 years old. More 
than 20,000 Colorado children become daily tobacco users every year. Nearly 
one in three will die prematurely from tobacco-related illnesses. In 2002, 
the alcohol-related death rate was 24 per every 100,000 people.

Addiction creates a heavy burden on our neighborhoods through our health 
care system, our criminal justice system, our school systems, our business 
community, our human services agencies and our community-based 
organizations. Substance abuse and addiction are also among the main causes 
of homelessness and contribute to many illegal activities, including 
prostitution.

There is scientific evidence that prevention and treatment services 
effectively reduce the social and economic impact of drug abuse and 
addiction. People who receive these services use drugs less often, engage 
in criminal behavior less often, interact with health care systems less 
often, and cause less harm to their communities. After treatment, the 
number of clients on public assistance decreased 11 percent nationwide and 
homelessness dropped 43 percent, according to a five-year evaluation 
conducted for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services from 1992 to 
1997.

A Colorado follow-up study demonstrated a 97 percent decrease in arrests in 
all criminal offense categories following substance abuse treatment.

In Denver, we are "pushing back" against addiction:

Our school systems are developing and implementing programs to educate 
youth about the harm caused by drugs.

Our city's Department of Human Services is working to help people who are 
addicted and address the issue of substance abuse in relation to homelessness.

Our police department is implementing comprehensive training programs to 
help patrol officers better identify and de-escalate mental health or drug 
addiction situations.

The city and community partners created a program where 18- to 25-year-old 
homeless addicts can get off the street and into housing and treatment.

The media are helping get anti-drug messages out onto our airwaves.

Our community-based organizations and foundations are finding avenues to 
help people who are in harm's way because of addiction.

Substance abuse and addiction are pervasive problems that affect all 
aspects of our society, and trying to solve the problems caused by 
addiction can seem overwhelming. There is no magic bullet that will make 
the problem go away, but we know that addiction is a treatable disease, and 
substance use is a preventable behavior.

As a society, we must use what we know to protect our youth and others at 
risk of addiction, and we must commit to increased funding for prevention 
and treatment services and additional research that can help us further 
address substance abuse and addiction issues.
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MAP posted-by: Terry Liittschwager