Pubdate: Wed, 19 May 2004
Source: Belmont Citizen-Herald (MA)
Copyright: 2004 Community Newspapers Inc.
Contact:  http://www2.townonline.com/belmont/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3552
Author:  Cyndi Roy
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/testing.htm (Drug Test)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/heroin.htm (Heroin)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/oxycontin.htm (Oxycontin/Oxycodone)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/rehab.htm (Treatment)

STATE PLAN TARGETS DRUG ABUSE

BOSTON - With substance abuse reaching epidemic proportions in 
Massachusetts, Lt. Gov. Kerry Healey unveiled a plan Monday that funds 
additional treatment services, targets methamphetamine sales, and calls 
for  assistance to school districts that test students for drugs.

Massachusetts  is among the top 5 percent of states with the highest drug 
and alcohol abuse  rates. The Bay State ranks number one for Oxycontin and 
heroin use. In 1996,  there were 200 opiate-related fatal overdoses, a 
number that jumped to 449  statewide in 2003. And among teens admitted for 
substance abuse treatment, they  were experimenting with the drug at an 
average age of 13. Healey and  other public health officials said there is 
no single reason behind those unwanted rankings, but said a persistent 
denial of the problem likely fuels its  prevalence.

Healey  shared the administration's plan with members of the Legislature's 
new Committee  on Mental Health and Substance Abuse before discussing it at 
a press conference  Monday morning. "One thing that came out of my 
discussion with committee members  that occurred earlier this morning is 
the urgency of this problem," she said.  "We cannot afford to wait any 
longer to take action on these items."

The  administration's 93-page strategic plan focuses on identifying, 
treating and  preventing drug use in schools, something which Healey and a 
bipartisan group of  lawmakers joining with her said has long been 
overlooked. The plan calls for the  state to assist communities with the 
implementation of drug testing on high  school students and establishes two 
"sobriety high schools" in Boston and  Springfield, where students 
recovering from drug addiction could continue their rehab while finishing 
their education. States like  Minnesota have run sobriety high schools for 
more than a decade, said state Sen.  Steven Tolman (D-Brighton), 
co-chairman of the committee. Tolman, who two weeks  ago demanded that the 
administration set a date for releasing its long-awaited  plan, joined with 
Healey to support the proposal. He commended the  administration for 
including in the plan the establishment of sobriety high  schools.

"Anybody  who wants to pretend that we don't have a problem in every one of 
our  communities with Oxycontin and heroin belongs on Mars," Tolman said. 
"It is  outrageous. Most of the children that are coming out of detox, 
we're finding,  when they're put back in their environment, are failing." 
According  to Healey, 90 percent of students who attend a sobriety school 
after rehab  graduate. Ninety percent of those who come out of treatment 
programs and go back  to their old schools fail, she said.

The  strategic plan is predicated on legislative approval of $9.1 million 
included in  a supplemental budget filed by the administration earlier this 
year. Healey said  the money would help 6,000 to 8,000 more drug users in 
need of rehab services,  and attract $14.5 million in federal matching 
funds. Tolman said  he expects lawmakers to approve the funds within the 
next two to three  weeks.

The state  spends more than $250 million a year on substance abuse 
treatment programs, with  prevention accounting for just 11 percent of 
those funds. But the state's  existing system of prevention and treatment 
is haphazard, Healey said, spread  across 13 state agencies that don't 
communicate with each other. More than  82,000 Massachusetts residents 
received drug abuse treatment services last year.  It's estimated another 
40,000 sought treatment but were denied because of a lack  of resources, 
according to a recent Brandeis University study. As part of  the plan, Gov. 
Mitt Romney also filed legislation that gives prosecutors new  tools to 
crack down on methamphetamine. The bill contains a list of chemicals  that 
can be used to manufacture meth, as it is known, and possession of any one, 
or combination of, these chemicals with intent to manufacture or distribute 
will  constitute a felony offense punishable up to five years in prison and 
up to  $20,000 in fines.

"I think  all of you probably know the devastation that methamphetamine has 
been causing  in other parts of the country," Healey said. "It has been 
marching toward us  from the West Coast. It's currently devastating the 
Midwest. We can see that it  will soon reach our borders."
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MAP posted-by: Elizabeth Wehrman