DRUG ABUSE BUDGET SKIMPS ON TREATMENT

Delaware spends almost a tenth of its state budget to cope with the results
of substance abuse, but less than 1 percent to directly treat the problem,
according to a new national study using Delaware budget data.

Prisons, courts and juvenile justice programs consume the largest portion
of the costs associated with substance abuse, according to the study
released Monday.

The three-year study, titled "Shoveling Up: The Impact of Substance Abuse
on State Budgets," estimates that states spent $81.3 billion dealing with
drug, alcohol and tobacco abuse in 1998, about 13 percent of their budgets.

Delaware's numbers were close to national averages.

Of the total spent, about $3 billion went for prevention and treatment
programs. The rest paid for state services ranging from law enforcement to
welfare to health care and education.

"This is truly insane public policy," said Joseph A. Califano Jr.,
president of the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at
Columbia University, which conducted the study.

"States that want to reduce crime, slow the rise in Medicaid spending, move
mothers and children from welfare to work and responsible and nurturing
family life must shift from shoveling up the wreckage to preventing
children and teens from abusing drugs," he said.

The study examined Delaware's spending for 1998 and found the state spent
9.6 percent of its $2.5 billion budget on cleanup programs related to
substance abuse. That was $468.70 per Delaware resident.

The biggest two chunks of that were spent on justice programs related to
substance abuse -- prisons, courts and others -- which took up 3.7 percent
of the state's budget, and health care expenses resulting from substance
abuse, which came to 2.7 percent.

The state spent only 0.6 percent of its budget on treatment.

The study's major findings did not surprise Delaware officials who deal
with substance abuse problems.

In his two decades as a state prosecutor, Ferris W. Wharton saw how drugs
and alcohol cause some crimes and make others worse.

Wharton, now chief deputy attorney general for the state, said assaults and
domestic abuse cases often are more violent when substance abuse is involved.

"If [suspects are] high, they'll smack someone around more or grab a
weapon," he said.

About 80 percent of the people in Delaware's corrections system have a
substance abuse problem, said Beth Welch, spokeswoman for the Department of
Correction.

Criminals can get up to two and a half years of substance abuse treatment
in prison and after release, Welch said. Those who complete the three-step
program are 40 percent less likely to use drugs or be arrested again, she said.

Substance abuse also is a problem for young criminals at Ferris School, the
state's school for boys who have committed crimes. At the school, which has
72 beds, boys attend academic classes, counseling and other programs for
about six months.

Between 75 percent and 80 percent of the boys at Ferris School have a
substance abuse problem, said Sherese Brewington-Carr, director of the
state Division of Youth Rehabilitative Services.

The Turning Point program at Ferris tries to get boys to understand the
effect that drugs have on them and their families, she said.

"If we can't get a kid able to think clearly because of a substance
addiction, they can't deal with their other problems," Brewington-Carr said.

Prevention programs must start early, said Jack Kemp, director of alcohol
and drug services for the state Division of Alcoholism, Drug Abuse and
Mental Health.

Prevention is crucial to avoiding a host of other problems caused by drug
abuse, he said.

"If we can prevent someone from getting involved in an addiction, it's
going to save costs to the health care system," Kemp said.

Steven Martin, scientist for the University of Delaware's Center for Drug
and Alcohol Studies, said secondary costs of substance abuse also are high.

The family of a jailed drug user often must rely on state assistance and
charity to survive, he said.

The Columbia study, which includes Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico, found
New York used the largest portion of its budget -- 18 percent -- to deal
with the consequences of substance abuse.

Puerto Rico spent the lowest overall percentage, 6.1 percent.