Addressing and treating addiction is within our collective grasp
As our communities struggle with the problem of crime in New Mexico, one fact is glaringly obvious: substance abuse and addiction clearly are significant causes of crime. Prevention and treatment, therefore, must be a key component to any comprehensive plan designed to combat crime.
The million-dollar question, of course, is how do we prevent and effectively treat substance abuse and addiction in our state?
The ABQ Journal recently ran an (Associated Press) article describing how one community was successfully addressing opioid addiction: “One county shows how opioid recovery can work” (Journal, Nov. 6). Leaders in Findlay, Ohio — Hancock County — have developed a highly effective treatment and recovery program. One indication of its effectiveness is that deaths from drug overdoses have dramatically decreased.
Can counties in New Mexico implement a similar program, too? If the Hancock County program decreased opioid abuse, then might it not work for other types of narcotic abuse and alcohol-related crime, as well?
The Hancock County program incorporates essentially six specific tools: (1) the judicial branch offers and sponsors drug courts; (2) the University of Finlay offers classes and entry-level certificates in addiction treatment; (3) the county offers and operates three recovery homes where addicts can come for 12-step meetings and general fellowship; (4) the county offers a needle exchange program; (5) the county has created a quick response team which reaches out to addicts who are being released from jail or prison; and, (6) the county has hired and deployed workers to help addicts who have been released from jail or prison to navigate the recovery system.
The Hancock County program utilizes and coordinates various organizations and resources within its community as opposed to relegating the problem to one particular agency or institution. New Mexico’s counties, cities and towns have access to the same resources with which to implement similar coordinated and all-handson-deck programs.
For many years now, New Mexico courts have been sponsoring drug courts and other specialty courts aimed at addressing and treating addiction. Communities across the state offer numerous volunteer 12-step programs. The jails have from time to time attempted to provide assistance and support to addicts as they are released from custody. The list goes on. No one part of the Hancock County program is unique to New Mexico’s own efforts to combat addiction.
There is no reason whatsoever why Bernalillo County and other counties in the state cannot implement programs like the Hancock County program. However, two necessary goals must be reached.
First, leaders must coordinate and streamline all of the available resources in our communities: educational institutions, medical expertise, the courts, the jails and prisons, existing 12-step programs, city and county social services, social and charitable organizations and law enforcement. A centralized recovery program is essential to arresting and eradicating the scourge of drug and alcohol addiction and its resulting criminal behavior.
Second, this coordinated effort must become a mainstay in any solution to our crime problem. A centralized addiction recovery program must persevere on a daily basis in its mission to prevent and treat addiction. The genie is out of the bottle. Addiction clearly is no longer just affecting adults; it has reached our high schools, middle schools and elementary schools. The problem seems to be getting worse, not better. Recovery programs necessarily must be predicated on the principle that treatment and recovery will require daily maintenance.
New Mexico’s communities have the resources, and certainly the vested interest, with which to implement programs like the Hancock County program in Ohio. All that is necessary now is to put all the moving parts together. We can do this thing. It is within our collective grasp.
May everyone enjoy a peaceful and joyous holiday season.