Prisons and Drug Abusers

I would like to applaud The Times for your editorial “Prisons Won’t Do It” (June 28). The editorial brought out the very important point that more prison cells are not going to stop or slow the increase in the number of inmates. As The Times correctly pointed out, 75% of the inmates in Los Angeles have been incarcerated for drug-related crimes.

On June 19, I convened a public hearing on the shortage of drug treatment services in the county. At the hearing, representatives of law enforcement, medicine and public health, children’s services, and drug treatment programs gave startling testimony detailing just how far behind the county has fallen in its ability to provide drug treatment services.

Ironically, at a time when new federal, state and local funding has been allocated to interdiction and prevention efforts in the “War on Drugs,” similar funding commitments have not been made for drug treatment programs. It is not enough to “Just Say No.” Federal funding for publicly financed drug treatment “slots” steadily declined between 1981 and 1987. It would take at least $14 million to restore us to the 1981 level of service, which provided treatment for almost 7,100 drug abusers.

This is unfortunate because addicts not in treatment place great costs on society, in the form of crime, prosecution and incarceration costs. Additionally, there are the risks of drug-addicted babies and AIDS transmission as a result of addicts not in treatment. Clearly, there is a need to invest resources in treatment services so as to minimize and possibly avoid greater human and taxpayer costs.

Were access to treatment available on demand, many drug abusers could be helped to recover. As UCLA researcher Dr. Douglas Anglin pointed out at the June 19 hearing, “There is incontrovertible evidence that drug abuse treatment works.” Further, research studies of court-ordered treatment have clearly demonstrated the benefits of counseling and rehabilitation, in conjunction with incarceration, or the threat of incarceration. Unfortunately, there are more than 1,700 persons waiting to enter county programs which already have a 4- to 6-month waiting list. When their opportunity to enter a program arrives, many will have lost interest or be unavailable due to incarceration.

On June 27 the board approved my motion to direct the Department of Health Services to develop a drug treatment demonstration project for convicted drug offenders. Such a program, in collaboration with the sheriff, district attorney, Superior Court and Probation Department, would serve as a model, and more effectively utilize our limited resources by coupling treatment with conviction, probation, and/or incarceration. The board will consider funding for this project when it holds budget deliberations beginning on July 19.

EDMUND D. EDELMAN

Chairman

Board of Supervisors