Drug Treatment

A Baltimore drug-treatment program that was investigated for financial improprieties earlier this year apparently will be denied renewal of a federal grant.The Baltimore Substance Abuse Systems, a quasi-public organization, has been operating for three years under a $13 million grant from the federal Center for Substance Abuse Treatment, under a program called Target Cities.But Dr. Peter Beilenson, Baltimore health commissioner, says the city has been notified informally that its application for another $3.4 million has been denied.

The directors of Baltimore Behavioral Health Inc., a major drug treatment provider in Baltimore, have laid off longtime executive William "Kris" Hathaway, as the once high-flying nonprofit continues to cut costs. The board of directors had earlier removed Hathaway as chief executive and put vice president Terry T. Brown in charge of the clinic, which specializes in treating people with both addiction and mental illness. In an emailed response to questions from The Baltimore Sun, board member Jay Miller said that Hathaway was laid off "in the interest of saving money.

The directors of Baltimore Behavioral Health Inc., a major drug treatment provider in Baltimore, have laid off longtime executive William "Kris" Hathaway, as the once high-flying nonprofit continues to cut costs. The board of directors had earlier removed Hathaway as chief executive and put vice president Terry T. Brown in charge of the clinic, which specializes in treating people with both addiction and mental illness. In an emailed response to questions from The Baltimore Sun, board member Jay Miller said that Hathaway was laid off "in the interest of saving money.

Isn't it a bit disingenuous for the University of Maryland School of Medicine to use its own research to justify locating a methadone treatment center in the 1100 block of West Pratt Street ("Study: Methadone clinics don't draw crime," May 1)? It's interesting that the school found that convenience stores bring crime to a neighborhood because of the foot traffic they generate. How else would the university describe bringing 600 or so drug addicts a day to a methadone treatment center except as generating foot traffic through the neighborhood?

It's been a busy year so far at Powell Recovery Center in Upper Fells Point. About 40 new clients have walked into the drug treatment center since the state expanded substance-abuse coverage for low-income Maryland residents Jan. 1. State officials hope that getting more addicts into treatment will ease a major backlog, especially in Baltimore. While some centers worry that the expansion will prove burdensome, Powell Recovery's president sees only an upside: He predicts his center will be able to serve more than 2,000 drug users this year, up from 1,500 last year.

GOV. ROBERT L. Ehrlich Jr., a law-and-order Republican, has made drug treatment efforts a top priority of his administration. He has focused on putting nonviolent, drug-addicted offenders into treatment instead of jail, and offering treatment to prisoners before they return to the streets. But a key aspect of the administration's initiatives now before the Maryland General Assembly is in danger of being derailed by cost-cutting, shortsighted legislative budget analysts. Targeted for cuts is the administration's plan to enhance drug treatment and education programs for Maryland prisoners - a welcome reform of the prison system.

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY should reject Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.'s plan to enhance drug treatment and education programs. Drug users can pay for their own "treatment" if they really want help. They found the money to buy drugs, they can find the money to buy treatment. State funding for addiction treatment only helps addiction treatment providers. The most popular way of helping people with drug and alcohol problems is through free self-help programs such as Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) and SMART Recovery.

Graham-Melvin Associates, Inc. has shut down its drug treatment clinic in the Oakwood Business Center on Oakland Mills Road in east Columbia, apparently because of financial problems.The company, which also closed a clinic at 2117 Maryland Ave. in Baltimore, has been under state scrutiny since April, when the state cut off funding to the program when auditors discovered the clinic might be overbilling Medicaid.In June in Howard Circuit Court, the clinic admitted bilking $95,000 from the Medicaid program by inflating hours spent with patients and billing for office visits that never happened.

ALTHOUGH The Sun's two-part editorial on drug treatment earlier this week was fraught with errors and serious misrepresentations, I was pleased to see two of the conclusions: Baltimore is on the right track in its efforts to get treatment to all who need it, and the organization created to oversee the publicly funded treatment system, Baltimore Substance Abuse Systems Inc. (BSAS), should remain.No doubt, Baltimore has a serious substance abuse problem. Mayor Kurt L. Schmoke and I realize that we cannot arrest our way out of the drug problem.

Baltimore Housing Commissioner Daniel P. Henson has withdrawn a threat to cut $4 million in housing funds from the city's drug treatment program, Mayor Kurt L. Schmoke said yesterday.Henson, who sits on the board of Baltimore Substance Abuse Systems Inc., the agency created to coordinate drug treatment in the city, threatened this week to take back a portion of the organization's $33 million budget after becoming frustrated by what he called inaction in treating public housing addicts.Schmoke said yesterday that he met Wednesday with Henson and city Health Commissioner Peter L. Beilenson, who agreed to speed up the treating of city addicts.

Although Howard County remains one of the most affluent counties in the nation and has the lowest unemployment rate in the state, the number of homeless people has increased over the past year, prompting a push to increase assistance through the county's plan to end homelessness. County Executive Ken Ulman included $366,500 in his $899 million budget to fight homelessness. If approved, this year would be the first in which the county has set aside money for the plan, which targets those who are chronically homeless — often because of a mental illness or substance-abuse problem — and others who are homeless because of job loss or other unforeseen circumstances.

Major League Baseball announced Wednesday that Orioles minor league catcher Brian Ward has been suspended for 50 games for his second violation of the minor leagues' drug treatment and prevention program. The commissioner's office did not specify what he used but stated it was “a drug of abuse.” Ward, 26, was in the Orioles' big league camp for several weeks this spring as a nonroster invitee. A nondrafted free agent in 2009, Ward batted .254 in 104 games at High-A Frederick.

Baltimore Behavioral Health, a West Baltimore substance abuse clinic, has managed to find a way to maximize the amount it bills from the state while minimizing its own costs, enriching the family that runs the facility in a way that hurts taxpayers and, potentially, the very addicts it's supposed to be helping. The investigation published yesterday and today by The Sun's Scott Calvert was shocking not just because of the practices it described at BBH but also because it revealed an utter lack of effective supervision from the state, even as the center sucked up more and more taxpayer dollars.

As a former patient of Baltimore Behavioral Health I completely agree with your articles ( "Hooked on treatment," Nov. 7 and "Sheltered addicts, strained recovery," Nov. 8). I first went to BBH in January 2008. I was an out of control heroin addict who at that point had burned all my bridges. I was homeless and unemployed. I knew I needed help but not having insurance, my options for getting clean where severely limited. So I went to the ER of Baltimore Washington Medical in Glen Burnie (I'm from Anne Arundel County)

A 27-year-old West Friendship man will spend six months in jail after pleading guilty Tuesday to driving while impaired in the death of a 16-year-old Elkridge boy who had snuck out of his house around midnight with to bicycle to a local convenience store with two friends. Aaron Jacob Lorsong, a Ph.D. student and medical researcher, hit the rear of Benjamin Wortman's bicycle on Route 108 about a mile from the youth's home at 12:34 a.m. Aug. 28, 2009. Lorsong told police the boy was in the roadway in front of his Nissan Altima.

It's been a busy year so far at Powell Recovery Center in Upper Fells Point. About 40 new clients have walked into the drug treatment center since the state expanded substance-abuse coverage for low-income Maryland residents Jan. 1. State officials hope that getting more addicts into treatment will ease a major backlog, especially in Baltimore. While some centers worry that the expansion will prove burdensome, Powell Recovery's president sees only an upside: He predicts his center will be able to serve more than 2,000 drug users this year, up from 1,500 last year.

A new public residential drug treatment center opened yesterday in Northwest Baltimore - the first new facility in 30 years - and city officials hope it will create more bed space for addicts wishing to become clean. The facility at 4615 Park Heights Ave. will hold 135 people. It will be run by Gaudenzia Inc., a 34-year-old company that has more than 40 treatment sites throughout Pennsylvania. The facility will offer outpatient and residential programs for substance-abuse treatment, as well as prevention and education.

Diane Lynn Wisner, twice convicted on cocaine distribution charges, asked Carroll Circuit Judge Francis M. Arnold yesterday to send her to a drug treatment program and spare her from a possible minimum, mandatory prison term of 10 years without parole."

No audit needed I'm writing in response to the recent articles concerning the Howard Soil Conservation District and the audit to be conducted by Howard County. The Howard Soil Conservation District has been funding two positions to conduct sediment and erosion control plan reviews since July 1, when the positions ceased to be funded by the county. The district funds had been accumulated over 40 years of tree sales, fish sales, rain barrel sales; basically a penny here and a nickel there.