Pubdate: Tue, 19 Aug 2014
Source: Daily Citizen, The (Beaver Dam, WI)
Copyright: 2014 Wiscnews.com
Contact:  http://www.wiscnews.com/bdc/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1152
Author: Terri Pederson

DODGE COUNTY ADDS DRUG AND ADDICTION COUNSELORS

JUNEAU - The Dodge County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday approved
doubling the alcohol and other drug abuse counselors employed by the
county. The county will add two more Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse
counselors to the Dodge County Human Services and Health Department
staff.

Dodge County District Attorney Kurt Klomberg and Human Services and
Health Department Director Janet Wimmer addressed the board about
increasing the treatment options for addicts in the county.

Opiate and heroin use is a huge problem for the county, Klomberg
said.

"Prevention and enforcement have been the traditional solutions,"
Klomberg said. "Tonight we are asking to add to the recovery prong."

Heroin is the most dangerous of the drugs, but even the legal
prescription drugs are part of the problem, Klomberg said.

"People who use heroin for the first time are running the risk of a
lifelong addiction," Klomberg said.

People are prescribed Oxycodone, Tylenol 3, morphine and Vicodin.
Klomberg said all these drugs, which are used for pain management,
have the same effect as heroin.

People addicted to the drugs go into withdrawals when they stop using
them. Heroin, while not a cheap drug, is a cheaper way of dealing with
the cravings than getting the prescription drugs.

The addicts cause a majority of the high-cost crimes in the area.
Klomberg used the example of a single user who confessed to 41
burglaries a few years ago. In his sentence he was required to pay
back $66,000 for those crimes, but the businesses will never see that
money, Klomberg said.

"He said he needed the money to feed his addictions," Klomberg
said.

The drug has led to a 170 percent rise in child abuse and neglect
reported to the Dodge County Department of Human Services, Klomberg
said. Thirty-five people have died from opiate fatalities from 2009 to
2013 in Dodge County.

Klomberg said prevention is the best solution and there are many ways
that the county is actively trying to communicate the dangers of the
drug to the community. The enforcement aspect is also a focus that the
county has well under control.

"We are very good with the supply side issue, but law enforcement is
less effective with the demand side," Klomberg said. "We know who is
selling drugs, but the user is just not cost-effective. A dealer dries
up the source for 12 users." The preventive aspect of adding the
additional counselors would allow people to get treatment as quickly
as possible.

Wimmer said her department has two AODA counselors. The additional two
would help those addicted to the drugs to get treatment as quickly as
possible.

"We need effective treatment," Wimmer said.

People need immediate access to treatment, Wimmer said.

"Every day that lapses there is a chance they will lose interest,"
Wimmer said. "We have a wait time of four weeks and a 30 percent
no-show rate."

With the additional staff members, the department could offer
treatment the day after help is sought, she said.

Wimmer said the additional staff would be scheduled to start Jan. 15
so it would not cause a financial impact to the 2014 budget. 
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MAP posted-by: Jo-D