Panel urges programs for addicts.Byline: David Steves The Register-Guard SALEM - A panel Friday urged the governor and lawmakers to devote millions of dollars more to what it called the "rebuilding" of a drug and alcohol abuse treatment program that has been overwhelmed o·ver·whelm tr.v. o·ver·whelmed, o·ver·whelm·ing, o·ver·whelms 1. To surge over and submerge; engulf: waves overwhelming the rocky shoreline. 2. a. by budget cuts and methamphetamine methamphetamine (mĕth'ămfĕt`əmēn): see amphetamine; methedrine. addicts. "The data show that time is running out for Oregon Oregon, city, United States Oregon, city (1990 pop. 18,334), Lucas co., NW Ohio, a suburb adjacent to Toledo, on Lake Erie; inc. 1958. It is a port with railroad-owned and -operated docks. The city has industries producing oil, chemicals, and metal products. to act," said Ann Uhler, chairwoman of the Governor's Council on Alcohol and Drug Abuse Programs. The council's biennial biennial, plant requiring two years to complete its life cycle, as distinguished from an annual or a perennial. In the first year a biennial usually produces a rosette of leaves (e.g., the cabbage) and a fleshy root, which acts as a food reserve over the winter. report and recommendations for the 2007 legislative session were delivered Friday to Gov. Ted Kulongoski Theodore R. "Ted" Kulongoski (born November 5 1940, in rural Missouri[1]) is an American Democratic politician. Since 2003, he has served as the Governor of Oregon. He was re-elected in 2006. and the Legislature. Uhler said the need for better and more expanded treatment can be seen in costs being borne elsewhere in public safety and human services programs. "Foster care has increased by 45 percent over the past four years due to a huge increase in drug- and alcohol-related arrests," she said. The report found that the Legislature reduced treatment services by at least $45 million in the past four years. Its recommendations include: A 20 percent increase in publicly financed treatment. Doubling state-financed prevention efforts to $4.5 million. A 15 percent increase in payments to treatment providers in 2005-07. An increase in drug-free housing by at least 2,000 beds statewide. Increasing substance-abuse treatment for prison inmates and those who have been released by 20 percent. The state Department of Corrections says 66 percent of men and 80 percent of women have a history of alcohol and other drug abuse. Increase the number of state police officers. This in response to data showing that 40 percent of 2003 traffic fatalities were related to alcohol or drug intoxication intoxication, condition of body tissue affected by a poisonous substance. Poisonous materials, or toxins, are to be found in heavy metals such as lead and mercury, in drugs, in chemicals such as alcohol and carbon tetrachloride, in gases such as carbon monoxide, and . The report says Oregon served 71 percent of the estimated number of people needing publicly financed alcohol and other drug treatment four years ago compared with 53 percent during 2004-05. The report says that treatment programs have been overwhelmed by methamphetamine-related admissions. For the past decade, Oregon has led the nation in the share of treatments associated with methamphetamine addiction addiction: see drug addiction and drug abuse. . Robyn McGregor of Eugene-based Serenity Lane Health Services health services Managed care The benefits covered under a health contract , which provides drug and alcohol treatment, said the need for increased treatment is immediate. "The window for somebody to ask for help is very small and sometimes closes very quickly," said McGregor, manager of clinical services. "When they get put on a waiting list for a six-month wait, many of them drop off. They eventually stop calling." |
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