Scientology Treatment Program for Prisoners Funded by Feds

Scientologists have scored a victory in New Mexico:

Federal tax dollars are helping to pay for a controversial addiction-treatment program for prisoners in New Mexico based on Scientology precepts...

The Second Chance program is billed as an alternative treatment program for nonviolent offenders and uses the principals of Scientology -- such as using saunas, diet, massage and vitamins to purge the body of toxins -- to fight addiction. In New Mexico, 24 of the state's 84 district judges have referred a total of 50 clients to the program since it opened last September.

Second Chance is the only Scientology-based treatment center for inmates in the U.S. A former chief district judge from Albuquerque, W. John Brennan, is a paid consultant hired to promote the program to his former colleagues. But the current chief district judge, William Lang, doesn't want judges to make referrals to the program, saying he is suspicious of its relationship with the Church of Scientology even though program officials say there is no link.

..."There's a lot of use of sauna with the idea that you sweat out toxins in the system," said addiction expert Bill Miller, who reviewed the program at the request of the city of Albuquerque. "I don't know of any scientific basis for that. It wasn't clear to me what sort of scientific basis there was even for the conception of the program to begin with."

The most troubling thing about Narconon and other Scientology-based programs is their consistent denials of any connection to the Church of Scientology. Offering a faith-based program is one thing, but misrepresenting themselves is another.

Stats.org weighed in on the WSJ's over-tentative reporting on matter. Unfortunately the author (Maia Szalavitz) appears to have forgotten to include Twelve Step Facilitation when mentioning evidence-based treatment strategies.

Do drug courts tame the meth monkey?

Utah's Governor starts a drug court push for meth addicted mothers and proposes significant investment in treatment:

Despite efforts to combat it, Utah's meth problem continues to grow - especially for women.
For five years, meth has been the top illegal drug of choice for Utahns entering public treatment. For women it surpasses even alcohol, the traditional front-runner, making it the only drug in history to have its female users outnumber males. Nearly half the women in treatment statewide have children.

Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. has proposed investing $2 million in Utah's drug courts and $2.5 million to build two residential clinics in northern and southern Utah to treat 600 women, giving priority to those involved with the child welfare system. But Huntsman will have to convince lawmakers it's a wise investment, no easy task considering the stigma attached to addiction and a dearth of data on treatment, including how patients and drug court graduates fare over the longer term.

Helping Utah's women poses another challenge: transforming a system that wasn't built for them.

"Substance abuse treatment has been historically geared for white, middle-aged male alcoholics," said Salt Lake County substance abuse Director Patrick Fleming. "We're a hell of a lot better at treating women than 10 years ago, but there's room for improvement."

I'd challenge the "dearth of data" statement. We have a lot of data on the effectiveness of treatment and drug courts.

Alcoholics forced into hospital treatment

Australia is piloting a program that commits their most severe addicts and alcoholics for 28 days. Interesting in light of Australia's embrace of harm reduction:

HEAVILY-addicted drug users and alcoholics will be forced to have treatment in hospital under a two-year pilot proposed by the New South Wales Government.

The trial, with up to 28 days of involuntary care at Nepean Hospital, would be a "circuit breaker" for the most severely addicted, state Health Minister John Hatzistergos said today.

"The four-bed service at Nepean Hospital will aim to break the addiction cycle for alcoholics and long-term entrenched drug users, before they are referred to longer-term treatment and rehabilitation with community support and follow-up," he said.

"We expect up to 50 patients a year from western Sydney will be treated in the four-bed secure unit."

The Government is drafting changes to the Inebriates Act 1912 to enable the trial to take place.

The changes would allow medical practitioners to seek a court order referring a severely drug- or alcohol-dependent person to compulsory treatment.