July/August, 2009 President's Report |
| Posted by Rhonda Messamore (rmessamore) on Jul 30 2009 |
By Jose D. Aragon, CADC II, ICADC, SAP
The days of treating alcohol and drug abuse and dependency issues from a punitive or criminal justice approach have proven to be ineffective and counterproductive. President Obama’s administration has encouraged Congress to recognize that health care reform focus on wellness and prevention. For the past 20 plus years CAADAC has attempted to obtain parity via licensure by political lobbying and support. Perhaps educating policy makers about the impact alcoholism and drug dependency has on public health and safety would cause acceptance of meeting our industry’s financial needs. Though many policymakers are becoming aware of the benefits of treatment, many still view addiction as a moral issue. CAADAC has been very fortunate in recent years to have champions like Senator Mark DeSaulnier, Assemblyman Jim Beall Jr. and Assemblyman Charles Calderon in promoting awareness and support for treatment and maintaining funding.
On June 19, 2009 I had an opportunity to attend a rally and informational hearing coordinated by Assemblyman Jim Beall Jr., 24th District, at LAC/USC Medical Center in Los Angeles, Ca. I was proud to be amongst colleagues, students, and policymakers in an effort to address the proposal of elimination of the 90 million dollars allocated for Prop. 36 by Governor Schwarzeneggar. CAADAC Executive Committee members Bob Tyler, Immediate Past-President and Treasurer Tish Hughes were in attendance along with CAADAC Board Member John Lewis.
Students from InterCoast Colleges made their presence known by displaying signs and billboards supporting Prop. 36 and the effectiveness of treatment. The day’s agenda started out with an outside rally and news conference led by Assemblyman Jim Beall Jr. who is the Chair of the Assembly Select Committee on Alcohol and Drug Abuse. The informational hearing followed the rally with a line-up of speakers who were very impressive and knowledgeable about the societal impact of alcoholism and drug abuse.
Michelle Simon from the Marin Institute was the first panelist who presented information about the “Annual Catastrophe of Alcohol in California” which included statistical data that gave those in attendance more confirmation as to the need for treatment in California. If you would like further information on her topic you can access in at www.marininstitute.org. Commissioner Stephen Marpet from the Los Angeles Superior Court followed with an informational presentation on the “Cost of Alcohol on Los Angeles Dependency Court”. Emancipated youth, Edgar Pena, gave a testimonial on how his parent’s alcoholism and drug addiction caused him to become part of the foster care system. He elaborated on the emotional struggles and financial hardships of being a COA (Child of an Alcoholic/Addict).
John Viernes, Director of County of Los Angeles Alcohol and Drug Administration reinforced the previous presenters by speaking on “The Cost of Addiction and Impact of Proposed Budget Cuts”. His information also referenced the Alcohol Density Study that was done in Los Angeles identifying the disproportionate amounts of liquor stores in lower socio-economic communities.
Stephen Gutwillig , California State Director for the Drug Policy Alliance presented on “Addiction Treatment Saves Lives, Reduces Costs and Protects Public Safety”. He noted the $49,000 price tag to house an inmate annually versus the fractional cost for treatment annually. In addition, Mr. Gutwillig emphasized the need to access federal stimulus dollars to save our much needed Prop 36 and Offender Treatment Program treatment programs. If you would like to access further information go to www. sgutwillig@drugpolicy.org
Along with the above aforementioned, alternatives were discussed to the Governor’s proposed cuts including the idea of raising levies on alcohol (AB 1019) to help pay for alcohol-related accidents, emergency medical and trauma care, treatment programs, and law enforcement costs. Now is the time for contacting legislators, contact your local assembly member and senator telling them about the catastrophic impact of eliminating treatment funds.
Please know that your CAADAC leadership has you and your families in our thoughts and prayers as we recognize that some of you have experienced furloughs, layoffs and terminations. Please network with one another and pay close attention to the job opportunities via caadac.org under “job listings”.
You are in my thoughts,
Joe
Last changed: Jul 30 2009 at 11:08 PM
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