Tucson Demand Treatment! Member Speaks Out August 27, 2004
Communities in Action Joan McNamara, chairwoman of the Commission on Addiction Treatment and Prevention, and chief executive officer of Compass Health Care Inc., both in Tucson, wrote a guest editorial for the Tucson Citizen, published August 12, in response to the paper's recent editorial on burglary. McNamara is also part of the Tucson Demand Treatment! leadership team.
In her editorial, McNamara reminds readers that "Arizona ranks among the 10 worst states for its number of people who don't get needed treatment for substance abuse."
She states that drug court and treatment "before any involvement with the criminal justice system" both work.
However, she reiterates that restrictions by insurance companies and other funders, and lack of quality treatment, both hamper an individual's ability to recover. She also points to the lack of treatment for adolescents as a serious problem, because kids "mature into adult addicts who also can rarely get the service they need to achieve the gift of recovery."
McNamara calls for the community to come together and call for:
- treatment on demand;
- use of the American Society of Addiction Medicine placement criteria;
- continued support for the county drug court;
- effective treatment during incarceration;
- and sober, supportive transitional housing for prisoners who do not have a safe place to go.
She concludes by saying, "Taking these actions to address the core of the issue of burglary and other crimes would keep us safer and more secure. When is it going to happen?"Click here to read the editorial in its entirety.
