Drug Treatment Programs

Purnell Parker remembers when his drug addiction was so bad that he ate nothing but peanut brittle for an entire summer because he was broke. But for more than a year, Parker has not used drugs. The 38-year-old Baltimore man wears a medallion that serves as a symbol of his recovery and to remind him of his new life - along with a seemingly perpetual smile. And after getting the upper hand on his dependency, he says, he is resolved to help others facing the same struggle. "When I was using, if you couldn't tell me where the next best corner was, I didn't have [anything]

IN A SERIES of news stories about teen-age criminals sentenced to a crucible boot camp, Sun reporter Todd Richissin found that the boys were not only pummeled and pounded while in custody, but they also returned to drugs and crime almost as soon as they were released.The boys, ages 14 to 17, arrived at the Savage Leadership Challenge camp in Garrett County in handcuffs and shackles and were dragged off the bus, slammed, pounded and thrown to the ground in a smorgasbord of physical abuse that was described by Richissin and documented by Sun photographer Andre Chung.

White people find their niche in the inner cityI enjoyed your article about the county residents who come into the inner city to buy their drugs.And Gregory Kane's viewpoint of the issues was most thought provoking as well as entertaining.Who says the inner city has nothing the rich, white preppies want?What I found particularly offensive was the smug attitude of the suburbanites.They all came off like a bunch of whiny, spoiled brats. Blaming their drug habits on the inner city seems to be putting the cart before the horse.

Eighty-five percent of the crimes reported in Anne Arundel County last year were drug-related, a fact that has renewed the old debate of whether treating drug addicts is more effective than jailing them for the crimes they commit to support their habits."

After more than a decade of failing to stop gross abuses in an aid program for disabled drug addicts and alcoholics, the Social Security Administration is preparing to spend nearly $300 million on a crackdown ordered by Congress that will force thousands of chronic substance abusers off the rolls.That's the estimated cost of enforcing a new law that aims to cut off payments to all addicts after three years -- a move triggered by reports from investigators that Social Security has failed to keep recipients from spending the money on drugs and alcohol.

The nation's failure to tame the drug epidemic ravaging cities such as Baltimore has brought Mayor Kurt L. Schmoke's advisers to a stark admission: Many people are going to remain addicts, so society ought to reduce the harm they cause themselves and others.In the wake of the sweeping proposal made Wednesday by a mayoral panel, Health Commissioner Peter Beilenson said the goal of any new drug policy will be to get people off drugs for good.But he admits that the proposal places heavy emphasis on programs aimed at reducing crime, disease, joblessness and alienation even as people continue to abuse illicit drugs.

A shootout in the Murphy Homes project Monday night dramatized the out-of-control nature of the city's drug crisis. Two plainclothes officers, responding to a tip, entered a fifth-floor hallway and identified themselves. They were met by a hail of .357 Magnum shots. The officers survived unhurt, but the shooter died and four other people were wounded in the fusillade of return fire.That shootout, and the alleged drug dealing which provoked it, involved adults, as did a Christmas 1991 incident which killed two women.

ANNAPOLIS -- Gov. William Donald Schaefer issued a public warning yesterday about the street drug "China White," a potent synthetic narcotic that has killed at least 23 Marylanders since Jan. 25.Fentanyl citrate, which is 100 times stronger than heroin, took 17 lives in Baltimore, three in Baltimore County, and one each in Carroll, Montgomery and Prince George's counties, according to the latest report from the state medical examiner, Dr. John Smialek."

ANNAPOLIS -- Gov. William Donald Schaefer has issued a public warning about the street drug "China White," a potent synthetic narcotic that has killed at least 23 Marylanders since Jan. 25.Fentanyl citrate, which is 100 times stronger than heroin, took 17 lives in Baltimore, three in Baltimore County, and one each in Carroll, Montgomery and Prince George's counties, according to the latest report from the state medical examiner, Dr. John Smialek."

There is no conclusive evidence that abuse of narcotic prescription drugs is out of control in Maryland. There is, however, evidence that many Americans are undermedicated for pain. A federal study recently urged doctors to pay more attention to adequate pain relief for patients after surgery. The problem is also acute among cancer patients. Why, then, is the state health department planning to spend $500,000 to create a new bureaucracy to monitor prescriptions of drugs that have sound medical uses but a high potential for abuse?

Purnell Parker remembers when his drug addiction was so bad that he ate nothing but peanut brittle for an entire summer because he was broke. But for more than a year, Parker has not used drugs. The 38-year-old Baltimore man wears a medallion that serves as a symbol of his recovery and to remind him of his new life - along with a seemingly perpetual smile. And after getting the upper hand on his dependency, he says, he is resolved to help others facing the same struggle. "When I was using, if you couldn't tell me where the next best corner was, I didn't have [anything]

Purnell Parker remembers when his drug addiction was so bad that he ate nothing but peanut brittle for an entire summer because he was broke. But for more than a year, Parker has not used drugs. The 38-year-old Baltimore man wears a medallion that serves as a symbol of his recovery and to remind him of his new life - along with a seemingly perpetual smile. And after getting the upper hand on his dependency, he says, he is resolved to help others facing the same struggle. "When I was using, if you couldn't tell me where the next best corner was, I didn't have [anything]

City Council president candidate Michael Sarbanes will unveil today his crime-fighting strategy, which includes shifting from specialized units to neighborhood patrols, salary increases for officers of 6 percent to 8 percent, and more money for drug treatment programs. "I feel a huge sense of urgency around this," said Sarbanes. "We can't as a city fall into a deadly trap of low expectations where we think that ... `Well, we just are a violent city and that's just the way things are.' Things can get much safer in neighborhoods."

Council acts to ease access to treatment The City Council took a very positive step toward improving the health and safety of our communities when it gave preliminary approval to a bill that would amend city zoning laws that make it difficult, if not impossible, to open or expand outpatient drug treatment programs in Baltimore ("More drug treatment centers," editorial, Oct. 26). Current city zoning laws compel all drug treatment programs - even those with long histories of success in Baltimore - to get legislation enacted in order to open an office, move or expand.

Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center has closed its well-regarded drug detoxification center and is expanding its methadone treatment program, a move that reflects a shift in the city's drug treatment policy. Hundreds of addicts were weaned off of drugs during stays of 10 days to two weeks at the detox center. But city drug treatment officials say the unit did not adequately meet the needs of the city's hardcore addicts, many of whom require more support than detoxification. They also say public dollars would be better spent on long-term drug treatment, which can last up to a year and includes services such as methadone maintenance, counseling, job training and the use of buprenorphine, a prescription drug that cuts clients' craving for heroin.

WASHINGTON - In an apparent response to congressional charges that it was ignoring methamphetamine abuse, three high-level Bush administration officials went to a Tennessee drug court yesterday to offer "innovative solutions" to combat a problem that has spread rapidly across the country. "The scourge of methamphetamine demands unconventional thinking and innovative solutions to fight the devastation it leaves behind," said Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales. "I have directed U.S. attorneys to make prosecution of methamphetamine-related crimes a top priority and seek the harshest penalties."

IN BALTIMORE, nearly one in five black men 20 to 30 years old is in prison, and more than half are under the control of the criminal justice system - in prison, on parole or on probation. Those grim statistics are contained in a report released this week by the Justice Policy Institute, a Washington-based research organization. Since most of these offenders are somehow involved in drugs and the drug trade, the report serves as yet another reminder that more treatment and less imprisonment would be a better approach to the city's crime and social problems.

FOR NEARLY two decades, police have been rousting drug dealers from corners, wiring up for undercover buys and busting down doors to disrupt the narcotics trade in this town. As cocaine and crack joined heroin as the drugs of choice, the violence intensified. The scourge took lives, those in the drug business and those caught in the cross-fire crackling through city streets. Police commissioners have deployed their troops in various ways over the years, but the focus often returned to the corners because of the public's demand to end the drug violence engulfing neighborhoods, homes and families.

Although their race is listed as one of a handful of tossups in the increasingly nasty battle for control of Congress, Helen Delich Bentley and C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger were strikingly civil to each other yesterday in a debate in which they agreed about almost everything. The candidates for Maryland's 2nd Congressional District seat met for the eighth time in the campaign in a debate taped for Maryland Public Television and agreed almost entirely on a wide range of issues, including war on Iraq, the balance of civil liberties and the fight against terrorism, the response to corporate malfeasance, minimum wage increases and the need for more drug treatment programs.

Although their race is listed as one of a handful of tossups in the increasingly nasty battle for control of Congress, Helen Delich Bentley and C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger were strikingly civil to each other yesterday in a debate in which they agreed about almost everything. The candidates for Maryland's 2nd Congressional District seat met for the eighth time in the campaign in a debate taped for Maryland Public Television and agreed almost entirely on a wide range of issues, including war on Iraq, the balance of civil liberties and the fight against terrorism, the response to corporate malfeasance, minimum wage increases and the need for more drug treatment programs.