Pennsylvania Families, Representatives Call for Increase in State Treatment Funds

Family members of twenty-two young people who died as a result of drug addiction spoke at a press conference at the Pennsylvania capital in order to gather support for State Representative Gene DiGirolamo's proposal to add $8 million to the state budget for drug and alcohol treatment.

The current state budget proposal would cut almost $3 million from treatment funds, but DiGirolamo's amendment gained unanimous approval in the state House of Representatives and is being considered in the Senate.

DiGirolamo organized the event with Deb Beck, president of the Drug and Alcohol Service Providers Organization of Pennsylvania, and called it "a day to remember the suffering and pain of family members who have lost a loved one to addiction."

"How many kids is that money going to help, and how many lives will it save?" asked DiGirolamo, whose son has been in recovery for six years from substance abuse. "That is reason enough to fight for every dollar we can possibly get."

Almost 87,000 people receive substance abuse treatment in Pennsylvania, but 630,000 others need treatment and do not receive it, said DiGirolamo. "If someone wants to go into treatment, the dollars should be there," he said, and the family members who spoke about their deceased relatives served as his evidence.

(5/27/2005)