Narcotics research, rehabilitation, and treatment. Hearings, Ninety ...

—633Presently, drug education in tlie public schools is inadequate: It is not at allunusual for students to be more knovv-ledgeable about drags tlian their schoolnurses and instructors. To initiate a more sensitive and meaningful drug educationprogram, covering the city's 32 schools, would require an initial staff of10 counselors and v?ould cost an estimated $150,000.Another need of the city exemplifies a fundamental problem presently confrontingthe entire Nation ; that our so-called rehabilitation centers, our jailsand youth homes, increase rather than decrease their inmates' problems. Forexample, it is generally agreed that the two State rehabilitation centers, Merideuand Cheshire, which house juvenile court referred youth, only compoundthe problems of a young addict sent there. Necessarily, we must have alternativesto present youth facilities. The juvenile courts must not be doing an addicta disservice when they sentence him to one of these centers. Therefore, the needfor youth drug rehabilitation treatment centers, already discussed, is again underscored.Also along the lines of the judicial system and youth drug addiction, astronger, more vigilant relationship must be encouraged between probationofficers and those young drug users who receive suspended sentences. In thisway, hopefully, the second-offender problem can be alleviated. This type of relationshiprequires a vast increase in the numbers of parole personnelAnother need essential to the city's drug rehabilitation and treatment effortsis for more places in the methadone treatment program. Presently there are 450available places for methadone treatment in the city, administered by two separateagencies, the Hartford Dispensary and the Blue Hills Hospital. Those whorun them estimate that there are 1,000 who would use the treatment if it wereavailable. The Hartford Dispensary presently has space for .300 at an operatingcost of $100,000 per year. Of their funds $325,000 is funded from the LEAA andwelfare title 19 (medicade). The other $75,000 is locally funded. In order toincrease the capacity of the methadone program to 1,000, an increase of $800,000is needed. The other budgets of local and State agencies are : Alcohol and drugdependency agency of the state department of mental health—$741,000 of which$472,000 is Federal money and $269,000 is State. The ADD has methadone andin-out patient programs. Their residential treatment center, Dartec. is gearedto take 45; drug information center—$65,000 ; model cities—$135.000 : roots$35.000 ; The Community Renewal Team of Greater Hartford is presently ap-I'lying for grants to the OEO. Thus the total amount of money now being usedin the city of Hartford for drug rehabilitation and treatment is $1,350,000.The last great need now facing the city is for an urban residential facilityfor adults. This facility must be equipped to serve the Spanish-speaking addictsof the city. The initial facility should be geared for 50. Because this must be aresidential facility, it must meet the stringent State building codes coveringboarding houses. The estimated cost of this service would be $250,000.The total estimated additional need for the city of Hartford to finance allof its needed programs is $1,450,000.Methadone expan,sion $800. 000Youth resideniial treatment facility250J 000Adult residential treatment facility 250^ 000Drug awareness program for public schools and mass media 150,' 000Total 1^ 450, 000This is without funding of additional parole personnel.In the area of Federal legislation, we would propose laws for assisting thenarcotics user similar to those concerning aid to the alcoholic under the Hughesbill. However, no matter vv^hat course of action is decided upon by your committee,the essential things to bear in mind is that all legislation and"^programsmust be mule more realistic and sensitive to the people's needs.In summary, there has been a substantial buildup of services for the treatmentand rehabilitation of the drug user, perhaps too great a variety of programswith too little coordination between them. There has been, in addition a substantialincrease in efforts to control the flow of drugs into the region with increasingnumbers of arrests, but indifferent success in interrupting the flow ofdrugs. The drug trafllc for the city of Hartford has weighed most heavily onthe poor, especially the black and Spanish-speaking poor for whom this has becomean additional obstacle to health and happiness.Many of the programs alluded to are currently in need of funds to even maintainpresent programs, much less to expand them. A substantial infusion of funds