DRUG TREATMENT DEPENDS ON WILLINGNESS TO BE HELPED

Strawberry: Supporters Say Penalties Warranted

Prison may be a good motivator for getting someone to begin to kick a
substance addiction -- but the threat of doing time behind bars won't work
unless the individual buys into the treatment.

"At some point, they need to start internalizing that they have an alcohol
or drug problem or make changes in their life to make them stay clean,"
said Michael North, unit administrator for the Intensive Treatment
Alternative Program. About 44 drug law offenders are participating in the
day treatment program.

Former baseball star Darryl Strawberry was sentenced to 18 months in prison
for violating probation for the sixth time since he was convicted in 1999
on drug possession and solicitation of prostitution charges.

"There's always some people whose addictions as so powerful that they need
some external structure imposed on them," said Thomas Quinn, director of
outpatient chemical dependency services for St. Francis Hospital.

But, Quinn said, jail is not the ideal place for drug treatment. Alternate
to jail programs are successful because they offer rigidity as well as
treatment, he said.

First Week is Key

In 2001, 18 people successfully completed the intensive treatment program
and seven were referred to other programs. Eleven failed to complete the
program and another eight dropped out almost immediately after sentencing.

"Those people that make it through the first week, there's a high rate of
recovery, but there's a lot of drop out in the first week," said Dr.
Kenneth Glatt, commissioner of the county Department of Mental Hygiene,
which oversees the program with the county Office of Probation and
Community Corrections.

The program can last up to 15 months and requires more than five hours of
participation daily.

It is not unusual for someone to relapse, whether they've voluntarily
chosen to stop an addiction or have been sentenced to an alternative program.

"For someone to get sober, they have to want to get sober," said Anna
Cognetto, a certified social worker who teaches psychology at Dutchess
County Community College. "For some people, relapse is part of their recovery."

The key, Cognetto and others said, is not simply for someone to change
their habit, but to change their attitude.

"If they're going through the motions to avoid jail, then they're not in it
to help themselves and therefore at some point they will probably relapse,"
Cognetto said.