To the editor:
As Salem evaluates the need for a methadone treatment program and considers potential locations, I'd like to provide the community with some information to assist in their decision-making.
In 2007, Salem residents accounted for 599 admissions into substance abuse treatment programs. More than one-quarter (26 percent), were for the treatment of heroin addiction. In other words, roughly 150 treatment episodes were for heroin addicts who reside in Salem.
Opioid addiction is a serious problem for individuals, families and communities. It is related to complex medical problems, increases in crime, exorbitant financial costs, weakened communities, shattered families and untimely deaths.
While communities care about individual drug addiction, it is these related consequences that are often even more concerning. To reduce addiction and its consequences, communities need a multipronged approach including reduction of supply through effective policing and law enforcement and a decrease in demand through prevention and treatment. Neither approach works without the complement of the other.
Methadone treatment programs reduce demand for illegal heroin through the use of a legal pharmaceutical agent that blocks the pleasurable effects of heroin such as intoxication and euphoria, while preventing the unpleasant effects of withdrawal and craving.
Residents of Salem have understandably expressed concern about the impact of a methadone program on the safety of their community. To this end, it may be reassuring to learn that communities with methadone treatment programs actually experience a decrease in criminal behavior.
It may also be comforting to know that methadone programs are required to provide counseling and education to their clients. However, the quality and amount of therapeutic resources can vary across programs and wise communities will monitor the consistent delivery of these services that should include screening for communicable diseases, counseling by highly competent and experienced counselors; medical, psychiatric, social work, and other mental health services; links to occupational counseling and job training; and parenting classes.
Salem residents should also know that methadone is not the only treatment option for heroin addiction. Buprenorphine, another effective pharmacological agent for heroin dependence, can be prescribed and managed by credentialed physicians from private offices and practices.
In closing, drug treatment programs are often susceptible to the NIMBY (not in my back yard) syndrome. However, roughly 150 heroin addicts already reside in Salem's back yard. The debate on how to treat these individuals is both timely and important.
Shelley Steenrod, LICSW, PhD
Chair, School of Social Work
Salem State College
Salem
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