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1992.10.20 :  Grants -- Heroin Abuse Treatment Capacity

Contact:  Tony Sims (301) 443-5052
October 20, 1992

     HHS Secretary Louis W. Sullivan, M.D., today announced grant
awards totaling $3.8 million to expand heroin abuse treatment
capacity for New York City, Newark, Baltimore, Detroit and
Seattle.
     The awards, being made by HHS' Office for Treatment
Improvement, will augment existing programs, add more treatment
slots quickly and will provide seed funding to start new
treatment programs.
     The awards are being made in response to recent data from
the department's Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN), which
monitors drug-related emergency room episodes in the nation's
hospitals.  Recent DAWN data for the five cities have shown
increases in episodes involving heroin.
     Secretary Sullivan said, "As we stated when we released DAWN
data on these cities a few months ago, heroin use and associated
public health problems in these cities gave us warning signs
indicating that actions were needed.  HHS has now designated
these cities for immediate expansion of drug abuse treatment
activities."
     Governor Bob Martinez, director of the Office of National
Drug Control Policy, pleased by the announcement, said, "We have an
opportunity to get ahead of the heroin curve and reach out to those
addicts who can benefit from early treatment.  These grants will 
supply the tools necessary to initiate programs for treatment in our
most critical areas."
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     These funds will provide an immediate infusion of additional
treatment dollars to each of the five urban areas to help them cope
with urgent heroin problems, said James Mason, M.D., assistant
secretary for health and head of the U.S. Public Health Service.
     The services to be emphasized with the additional funding are:
     o expansion of ambulatory detoxification;
     o intensive outpatient and/or day treatment;
     o supportive outpatient treatment, including relapse         
        prevention; and
    o  capacity for methadone maintenance.
     Elaine M. Johnson, Ph.D., acting director, Substance Abuse and
Mental Health Services Administration, added: "Our highest priority
target population is heroin users who have recently started using
and have not been treated previously for narcotics, and individuals
who relapsed after a period of one year or more of stable
abstinence."

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