Many Believe Region Lacks Treatment Options
Daniel Taylor
Bristol Herald Courier
Aug 15, 8:32 AM EDT
ABINGDON - With prescription drug abuse on the rise in Southwest Virginia and Northeast Tennessee, many say those trying
to kick the habit don't have enough treatment options. About 20 community leaders and concerned residents with the newly formed Southwest Virginia Coalition for Change recently
gathered at Virginia Highlands Community College to discuss how to deal with what they see as a burgeoning problem.
"We have no inpatient treatment programs in the area," said Judy Mills, director of health services for the nonprofit
group Occupational Enterprises Inc. "There's one detoxification center in Lebanon whose average stay is three days. That's
not enough."
Mills wants centers that would gradually wean users off drugs, but she feels substance abuse lacks the attention and
funding needed to get them. "I think the money to deal with the problem of drug abuse is going into jails instead of
treatment," she said.
For some treatment options, the difficulty is a lack of support. Methadone, an opiate administered by licensed clinics
to soothe an addict's cravings as they work to end their dependency, has drawn plenty of controversy in recent years.
Residents of a community outside Bristol lobbied against and killed a proposal to open a methadone clinic in late 2003,
and the treatment option has few friends in law enforcement.
"I think you're treating a drug with a drug," Washington County Sheriff Fred Newman said.
In fact, authorities say they seeing more abuse of methadone than any other painkiller in the county. According to Dr.
John Dreyzehner, director of the Cumberland Plateau Health District, methadone accounted for 44 percent of the 217
overdose deaths in Southwest Virginia in 2003. But Dreyzehner stressed that most of the overdoses were from methadone in
pill form. Clinics administer the drug in liquid form - typically not an addict's first choice, said Ed Ohlinger, a
regional director for CRC Health Group, which runs methadone clinics in Southwest Virginia.
"Pills are easier to sell," he said. "We only use liquid. When you're looking at a pink diluted liquid, most people would
rather get the pills."
Many opponents say they find it difficult to support a drug that, if abused, can be just as addictive as any other. But
Ohlinger said treatment at a clinic involves much more than the drug itself.
"The medication doesn't cure per se, it enables it," he said. "There's group counseling, therapy, referrals and nursing.
It's about putting structure in your life."
Former addict Michael Blackson, who has received treatment at a methadone clinic in Galax since 1999, said methadone has
changed his life for the better. Just because some people have abused the drug doesn't mean the positive effects of
methadone should be dismissed, he said. "I believe people should have a choice of treatment options," he said. |
