Drug Rehab Is a County Priority

Re “Invest in Drug Programs” (Orange County Perspective, Sept. 17):

While I agree with some of the statistical information, I felt this editorial to be misleading. Since being elected to the Board of Supervisors, I have tirelessly worked to improve Orange County’s drug rehabilitation programs. I firmly believe in rehabilitation and think of it as an integral part of Orange County’s future.

In fact, you may not realize this, but as part of the tobacco settlement negotiations, I fought long and hard for more than a year to get the “health care advocates” to see drug and substance abuse rehabilitation as a health care priority. Unfortunately, they did not see the importance and would not consider this a priority, nor would they allocate money for rehabilitation as a health care expense.

It is disconcerting to me that the writer depicted the $2.5 million the board allocated earlier this year toward rehabilitation as a negative. I view it as a step in the right direction. The good news is that on a motion made by me, the board has taken appropriate steps and allocated $2.5 million for a two-year pilot program in the Theo Lacy men’s jail, as well as the $300,000 that has been allocated for perinatal residential substance abuse treatment.

The overall net county cost for drug and alcohol services, for this fiscal year alone, is $4.6 million. With a sheriff and a board member strongly advocating on behalf of this issue, I feel confident that Orange County as a whole has come together and is doing the right thing by supporting these programs.

With all this in mind, I find it ironic that the Board of Supervisors has been accused of not being supportive. While I can’t speak for my colleagues, this supervisor wholeheartedly supports drug and substance abuse rehabilitation.

CYNTHIA P. COAD

Supervisor, 4th District