Anchorage Daily News

Heroin use is on the rise in Alaska. But the state this past year cut back the most successful treatment program for most addicts -- use of methadone. The state reduced grants for the sole methadone treatment program in Anchorage by $20,000.

Lack of effective treatment endangers the lives of those hooked on this highly addictive drug. They are left with no good options. Addicts who want to quit will continue to rob and steal to support their habits.

Alaska should offer this service on demand for heroin users who want to stop.

Both the Fairbanks and Anchorage clinics are filled to capacity. The Anchorage clinic had 77 clients and about 27 on a waiting list last week.

As of March, the Anchorage center began only accepting pregnant women because it is short of the funding needed to expand.

The number of those waiting may have dropped because people gave up after months of calling.

How did such a wealthy state start short-funding heroin treatment right when use of the drug is climbing rapidly?

Two things happened: The Legislature cut grant funding for these kinds of programs by a third and it tried to more carefully ration the money by tying funding to tighter performance reviews. In the more austere funding climate, the Anchorage clinic got dinged in its performance review.

As a result, the clinic lost $20,000 of its grant.

That's inexcusable when the state is so rich.

It's not the program provider that gets hurt by such a decision. The individual addicts who can't get in suffer. The innocent children of heroin users, who are being raised badly, suffer. The community suffers, as heroin users continue to commit crimes and fill jails.

How about just helping the methadone clinic meet the standards?

To participate, drug users must come to the clinic and take a daily dose. Methadone is addictive, but is cheaper, healthier for babies in the womb, and less expensive than heroin.

The Anchorage clinic says the cost of methadone treatment and counseling works out to less than $50 per day. Compare that to the $500-a-day cost of a heroin habit, funded by a life of crime.

There's an alternative drug, buprenorphine, administered by some qualified doctors for those who have insurance or can afford it.

But most heroin users' lives are not that together. They must rely on government-supported programs.

When you've only got one methadone treatment program in each of the state's two major cities, cutting funding for not achieving a specific level of performance isn't the answer.

BOTTOM LINE: With heroin use increasing, the state needs to offer methadone treatment to any addict that wants off. It'll save in the long run.

Inspect this!

Assemblywomen Harriett Drummond and Sheila Selkregg want the city to start inspecting cars for safety issues and noise. I'm all for that idea -- especially now that I've finally gotten rid of the rickety old family minivan, which my eldest son nearly drove into the ground.

In the kamikaze world of Anchorage streets and roads, anything that would help make driving safer is a good thing, IMHO.

For example, it's rare enough that Anchorage drivers bother to reach for their turn signals -- so when they do, it would be nice to know that the signal actually works. I don't care if you're driving a one-eyed monster in June, but you'd be less likely to run over kids on the way to school in winter if both headlights actually work.

Safety checks would help detect serious problems -- like lousy brakes or worn-out steering -- before it's too late. We could make sure mufflers actually work, so motorcycles don't sound like they're carpet-bombing the neighborhood when they drive by.

While we're at it, I'd like to add some things to the vehicle check list.

I'd really love to see a crackdown on all those illegally tinted windows. We sure have a lot of VIP-wannabes, driving around town, hiding their faces from the rest of us. What are they hiding from anyway? The paparazzi? When you're on foot or bike, you can't see the drivers' faces, so you don't know if they register your existence or plan to run right over you.

If your car is blowing visible smoke out the exhaust, you flunk. I'm tired of driving behind people that are belching out more pollution than a '50s era steel mill in Pittsburgh. How do those cars pass the I/M anyway? And why don't the cops ticket these obvious scofflaws? Are they too busy chasing down crack dealers? I mean, really. One more thing: Can we do something about those ear-blasting sound systems?

Maybe we could run a seismographic test on them. If the shock waves from your monster bass speakers register a 3 or more on the Richter scale, we get to confiscate them and blow them up. It could be a fundraiser. People like me would gladly pay for the privilege of pushing the button.

-- Matt Zencey

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