The Reading Eagle has pursued prize-winningish reporting on the “scourge” of opiate abuse in Berks County.
But it hasn’t much reported on the treatment options.
It did tell Sunday about the outrage of a Brecknock Township woman who ended up sending her son to California for detox:
“They went to the hospital seeking treatment but were turned away empty-handed to find resources on their own.”
Never concerned with precision, the Reading Eagle doesn’t say if they went to Reading Hospital or St. Joseph’s.
The paper could follow up – what are the treatment options for addicts?
I suspect they are embarrassingly meager in Berks, hence the lack of reporting, because the Eagle would rather avoid embarrassing the Establishment than get at the truth.
There is one methadone center, in West Reading. Others have been proposed, most recently in Caernarvon Township, but opposed by officials swayed by NIMBY complaints.
It’s great to publish sensational horror stories about good children gone bad.
But now for the real journalistic effort – what’s being done? how is the community helping those who have the disease?
The Eagle could ask the methadone center director: if everyone addicted to opiates in Berks County asked for help, are enough resources available?
That’s what National Public Radio asked Michael Botticelli, director of National Drug Control Policy, in August.
NPR: “If half the heroin or opioid addicts in the 15 states in this program all wanted treatment, would there be sufficient programs and facilities to handle them?”
Botticelli: “Many of our treatment systems are operating at capacity, have long waiting lists. Many parts of the country don't have a specialty treatment program, but they do have a community health center. So focusing on increasing the capacity within our hospital systems and primary care facilities becomes really important for us.”
So how are Berks County’s health officials planning to focus on increasing the capacity of the hospital systems and two community health centers in Reading?
What do the two hospitals do for emerging addicts?
The paper reports on a Council on Chemical Abuse event:
“The workshop series focused on education about drugs, the disease of addiction, proper intervention strategies and how the community can help not only individuals struggling with addition, but also their families.”
What about practical information on treatment? Recovering takes months of intense support.
Who offers that in Berks?
What is the process after you call Reading Health System 24 Hour Addiction Hotline -- (484) 628-8186?
Caron, the rehab center near Wernersville, said in February that it was offering $250,000 to $300,000 in scholarship money a month to admit and treat young heroin addicts.
How many are using the money?
No comments:
Post a Comment