Pubdate: Tue, 17 May 2005
Source: Sentinel And Enterprise, The (MA)
Copyright: 2005 MediaNews Group, Inc. and Mid-States Newspapers, Inc.
Contact:  http://sentinelandenterprise.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2498
Author: Julie Mehegan
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/testing.htm (Drug Test)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/oxycontin.htm (Oxycontin/Oxycodone)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/rehab.htm (Treatment)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/youth.htm (Youth)

SUBSTANCE ABUSE PLAN FOCUSES ON PREVENTION

BOSTON -- Massachusetts has no cohesive plan for battling a growing 
substance abuse problem among Bay State residents, and the state must focus 
more resources on prevention to turn the tide, officials said yesterday. At 
a Statehouse press conference that drew lawmakers from both sides of the 
aisle, Lt. Gov. Kerry Healey released a 29-page plan for overhauling 
substance abuse services in Massachusetts, proposing such ideas as "sober" 
high schools for children who are recovering addicts and increased spending 
on both short-term detoxification and long-term treatment.

The strategy also asks for $9.1 million for treatment programs. "We can not 
afford to wait any longer to take action," Healey said, adding that while 
82,000 people received drug treatment services in the Bay State in 2004, 
another 40,000 are waiting for help.

Rep. Jennifer Flanagan, D-Leominster, a member of the Legislature's 
newly-created Mental Health & Substance Abuse Committee, said there is a 
critical need for detox services in north central Massachusetts, but 
suggested it is equally important to direct resources toward prevention.

For too long, said Flanagan, parents, educators, and public officials have 
been reluctant to discuss the growing problem.

"We hear about Holyoke and we hear about Boston, but we have Leominster, 
Fitchburg, and Gardner, and we don't hear about them," she said. "People 
think because we're not far from the border of New Hampshire, that the drug 
problem is not as prevalent. But we really need to start talking about it." 
Elizabeth Funk, president of an industry group that represents substance 
abuse treatment providers, yesterday praised the administration and the 
Legislature for recognizing the seriousness of the situation. 
"Massachusetts is experiencing an epidemic of overdoses and deaths from 
opiates such as OxyContin and heroin," said Funk, president of Mental 
Health and Substance Abuse Corporations of Massachusetts, Inc. "This report 
reinforces the need to restore cuts made to substance abuse services in 
recent years and to fund new services."

The blueprint first calls for the creation of a new council to bring 
together the 13 different state agencies that provide substance abuse 
services. Each agency receives some of the $250 million the state spends 
each year on treatment and services, but they don't work closely together, 
Healey said. Gov. Mitt Romney Monday signed an executive order creating the 
council, which Healey will chair. Among other recommendations, the plan 
calls for passage of $9.1 million in supplemental spending to expand detox 
and treatment services; passage of a bill to crack down on the manufacture 
and distribution of methamphetamine; and real-time tracking of heroin 
overdoses to help identify regions with the greatest need. Salem Schools 
Superintendent Herb Levine made headlines earlier this year when he called 
for mandatory drug testing of high school students in his community. 
Yesterday, he said such screening would go a long way toward preventing 
drug abuse and addiction.

Levine's son, who became addicted to OxyContin while in high school, has 
told his father that drug testing would have scared him away from OxyContin 
because it would have risked his ability to play baseball and his family 
would have found out. "He says very clearly that had student drug testing 
been around in his very early experimentation, he never would have gotten 
to OxyContin," Levine said.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Beth