Drug Treatment Programs

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.

The fourth annual Will Barrow Memorial Flag Football Tournament will be held Saturday at Virginia's historic Lambeth Field with proceeds going to the UVa HELP Line, a nonprofit, student-run crisis hotline. Play is scheduled to start at 10 a.m. Established in memory of Barrow, a former Cavaliers defensive midfielder who was found dead of an apparent suicide in November 2008, the UVa HELP Line is an anonymous, confidential telephone service for residents of Charlottesville, Albemarle County and the University of Virginia.

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."

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]

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."

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.

It's Friday morning, and Dr. Peter L. Beilenson, Baltimore's health commissioner, is sitting at the head of a conference table, flipping through pages of statistics. Nervous directors of city drug treatment programs sit around the table and wait for the interrogation. Today's first target is Total Health Care Inc., an outpatient program near Charles Street and North Avenue. Beilenson wants to know why the program's retention rate - how long people stay in treatment - has dropped. Six months ago, 94 percent of the people were still there after the first month of treatment, now 83 percent are. "What's going on?"

Baltimore may believe, but the Baltimore County Council has its doubts. Asked at its meeting Monday night to support the high-profile Baltimore Believe anti-drug campaign in the city with a $5,000 grant, the council refused, saying the advertisements and billboards are a waste of money that could be better used on drug treatment programs. Yesterday, County Executive C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger scrambled to get the three councilmen who voted against the grant to change their minds, acknowledging that he had made a mistake in not explaining its importance thoroughly.

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.

WASHINGTON -- Bush administration "drug czar" William J. Bennett plans to resign within the next few days, the second Cabinet-level departure from the administration in the past two weeks, administration officials said yesterday.Mr. Bennett, who served as Secretary of Education under President Ronald Reagan, is expected to say as he departs that the Bush administration has made substantial progress in its highly touted war on drugs.But many analysts have criticized his approach for focusing too heavily on law enforcement at the expense of anti-drug education and drug treatment programs.

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."

Maryland's inmate health care system faced staffing shortages last year, and plans stalled for drug treatment programs and a new electronic database to keep better track of records, a state audit released yesterday showed. Auditors from the Office of Legislative Audits noted "several significant areas of noncompliance" that affected inmate medical services at facilities across the state, including Baltimore's Central Booking and Intake Center and the city jail, according to the report.

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.

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."

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.