Politicians? responses to illegal drug use rarely outlast an elected official?s term, but results require a long-term approach, says a Baltimore author and treatment expert.
“People often talk as if they?re throwing their hands up, saying, ?Nothing can be done,?” said Dr. Jack Henningfield, co-author of “Addiction Treatment: Science and Policy for the Twenty-First Century.”
“When you talk to people in the trenches, working with addicts and making a difference, you?ll find that many of the things that can make a difference are out there and sitting on the shelf because there?s no funding.”
The Drug Abuse Warning Network, a federal public health surveillance system, estimates 627,923 drug-related emergency room visits each year nationwide. In Maryland, experts estimate 135,000 people are addicts, though updated statistics are due this spring.
The history of drug treatment is similar to many diseases, including epilepsy, depression and HIV, with patients, doctors and advocates having to fight prejudices and rhetoric for years before being taken seriously, Henningfield said.
His book, published by the Johns Hopkins University Press in December, argues that successful treatment requires turning away from high-profile celebrity failures and “one-size-fits-all” medications to a focus on helping individuals recover from a chronic illness that can drastically alter brain chemistry and behavior.
“Whether you?re treating depression, hypertension, diabetes or asthma, if the treatment doesn?t work or it?s unacceptable for the patient, the doctor doesn?t say, ?I?m throwing you out. It?s your fault.?”
Addiction treatment, Henningfield said, often is complicated by individual responses to medications as well as mental illnesses that vary from person to person. “In drug treatment, you get one shot ? one model of treatment,” he said.
Further complicating matters, many people seek treatment but never receive it because of limited funding and failure of insurance to pay for many treatments.
“Every major economic analysis shows that treatment more than pays for itself,” Henningfield said. “For the first one to two years, it costs a lot of money,” he said. “Within three years, hospitals consistently save money. Unfortunately in politics, three years is a long time to look, longer than most leader?s tenures.”
Hooked
» 135,000 Maryland addicts
» 25,000 ages 12-17
» 49,000 ages 18-25
» 61,000 age 26 or older
Source: Maryland Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
