More seek help for addiction;
Number of young people entering rehab has doubled in 2 years;
Treatment centers pushed to the limit by complicated cases

BY MICHAEL AMON
michael.amon@newsday.com
Pg. A05

The number of young Long Islanders in treatment for heroin addiction more than doubled from 2007 to 2009, flooding rehabilitation centers with thousands of complex cases.

“All of our treatment systems are being stretched to the max,” said Jeffrey Reynolds, executive director of the Long Island Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence, a Williston Park nonprofit that refers drug users to treatment.

In 2009, at least 3,555 Long Islanders younger than 26 and addicted to heroin entered state-certified rehab centers, compared with 1,689 in 2007, a 110 percent spike, according to the New York State Office of Substance Abuse Services.

Nationally, treatment centers saw a smaller but significant surge – 21 percent – in young heroin addicts under age 26. From Denver to the Chicago suburbs to much of the Northeast, heroin overdoses, arrests and overcrowded rehab centers have sparked community forums like the heroin summits seen in Nassau and school presentations in Suffolk.

Rises ‘all across the country’

“This is a not just a suburban Long Island problem. We’ve seen increases all across the country,” said John Gilbride, of the New York division of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.

Experts said Long Island remains a center for the heroin epidemic which began in 2007. Once seen as an urban scourge, heroin’s demographics have changed to include suburban middle-class teenagers and young adults. The drug is now powerful enough to be snorted instead of injected and a dose costs less than a night at the movies, Gilbride said.

Anecdotally, the surge continues, treatment experts said. Of 23 patients admitted in January to Phoenix House in Hauppauge, a long-term treatment center for men, 22 were in their 20s with heroin or opiate addictions, said Brian Gilliam, the center’s director. “It was absolutely unheard of,” Gilliam said.

To be sure, alcohol and marijuana remain the drugs of choice for most people, young and old, officials said. Also high on the list are prescription opioids such as Vicodin and OxyContin.

But the surge in heroin use – a deadly drug often requiring special medication to treat – has caused far-reaching shifts in treatment, officials said.

Young people on heroin often present more complicated cases than marijuana and alcohol users, said Dr. Joseph Lee, of the Hazelden Center for Youth and Families, a Minneapolis area treatment center. They’ve often overdosed, are physically wrecked from their addiction and may face legal and mental health issues.

Turns into a ‘different beast’

“By the time they get to opiates or heroin, they’re really in trouble. It’s become a completely different beast,” said Lee, whose 75-bed facility has drawn increasing numbers of young heroin addicts from across the country.

Many are like Armando Siciliani, 22, a heroin addict from Ronkonkoma, who was hospitalized three times and jailed a dozen times. He was a veteran of several rehab centers before landing at the Hauppauge Phoenix House last December for a six- to nine-month stay ordered by his probation officer.

“When I came in, I was so lost,” said Siciliani, who now speaks to high school audiences about the dangers of drugs. “It’s not just about doing drugs. I have to relearn how to be a normal person.”

At Phoenix House Academy in East Hampton, where about 90 percent of the 45 teenagers getting long-term treatment are heroin or opioid addicts, counselors recently added martial arts, yoga and meditation sessions.

“It’s such a vicious addiction that you have to get these kids linked into totally different social activities,” said Traci Donnelly of Phoenix House, which runs programs in the New York City area.

Most local rehab centers also now prescribe and administer Suboxone, a medication for opiate withdrawal symptoms. That includes Seafield Center, a Westhampton facility that once preached total abstinence from all substances, but added Suboxone as it took in more and more heroin addicts, who now account for 23 percent of its residential patients.

Yet the few centers appropriate for young people on Long Island often have waiting lists, so many parents look to Pennsylvania and Connecticut facilities. Some local centers need to adapt to having younger addicts with more serious problems, said Mary Silberstein, a board member of a group of Suffolk treatment centers called the Quality Consortium.

“You don’t treat an adolescent the same as you would an adult,” she said.

Heroin addiction treatment admissions on LI

Total on LI

2009: 6,935

2007: 4,693

UP 48%

Younger than 26

2009: 3,555

2007: 1,689

UP 110%

26 and older

2009: 3,380

2007: 3,004

UP 13%

The LI Breakdown

Detoxification.

Sequestered 24-hour treatment with medication such as methadone for withdrawal symptoms. Many stand-alone rehab centers now offer limited detox units, once performed only in hospitals, though often without medication. After stays of one day to a week, patients are referred to post-detox treatment.

Younger than 26: UP 110%

26 and older: UP 11%

Inpatient.

Residential treatment with heavily structured group therapy, chores, writing assignments and 12-step meetings. Others focus more on individual therapy. Staff available 24 hours.

Younger than 26: UP 141%

26 and older: UP 17%

Residential.

Residential programs of three months to more than a year, emphasizing learning to live in society by playing a role in the treatment center’s self-contained community. Residents keep the community running by cooking, cleaning and filing paperwork. Heavy doses of group, family and individual therapy.

Younger than 26: UP 111%

26 and older: UP 21%

Outpatient.

Several hours a week of individual and group therapy, while patients live at home and maintain a job or go to school. Programs vary widely but most administer drug tests and help patients find self-help groups. Some can prescribe drugs.

Younger than 26: UP 93%

26 and older: UP 12%

some words here

Both sides would have liked to schedule something sooner but with holidays such as Passover and Easter approaching, they couldn’t arrange it.

From what I understand, the two sides are very much in contact with each other and are making a bit of progress, though it probably can best be measured in inches.

On Friday, Liisa May, the editorial unit steward, delivered a PowerPoint presentation on Friday to provide a counterpoint to some of the information in Publisher Terry Jimenez’s slideshow.

“We hope it serves to set the record straight or at least to rebut their claims that we have been earning exorbitant salaries for this region or compared to our peers in the field,” said Zack Dowdy, the editorial unit vice president.

He said Liisa’s presentation included statistics for several of our major job categories, including reporters, drivers and press operators.

The delay means that the editorial unit contract will expire without a new agreement on April 1.

That’s not necessarily a bad thing. Union officers tell me that the old contract will stay in effect, but Zack Dowdy is going to address that in an upcoming membership note and I’ll defer to him.

It should be noted that the Electronic Pre-press unit has been working without a contract since March 1. No changes in working conditions so far.

The press room and delivery units are still under contract until May 1 and June 1.

As always, feel free to ask questions.

Beyond that, there isn’t a lot to report today. In lieu of news, here’s a photo of the union bulletin board in the newsroom that you may or may not have noticed lately. I always liked New York Newsday’s slogan “Truth, Justice and The Comics.” I also like this …

Hopefully, someone at Cablevision is reading this.

A handful of union officials were allowed to view Newsday’s still confidential 4th quarter results, which will be made public on Thursday in Cablevision’s SEC filing. No word on what they will say.

Zack Dowdy told me the tone of Tuesday’s meetings was positive. George Tedeschi said it was a productive day.

I’ll try to keep everyone up to date over the next few days as it becomes clear what useful information, if any, Newsday turned over. I’ll close with some thoughts from a smart and trusted colleague who e-mailed me about Newsday’s financial condition this morning.

“While the operating profit/loss was the focus of the recent press release (ie, verifying the $7 million loss) and the “loss” has been used to justify wage cuts, I’d suggest drilling into and remaining focused on cash flow numbers, as they are what Cablevision highlights as among the most important in displaying a business unit’s health.
Take note of the definition of consolidated free cash flow from continuing operations in Cablevision’s third quarter press release (below).

“I believe for the first three quarters of 2009, Newsday had operating free cash flow of $10.7 million. That number is almost certain to increase markedly by year end.”

From the 3rd quarter press release.
“We define Consolidated Free Cash Flow from Continuing Operations, (“Free Cash Flow”), which is a non-GAAP financial measure, as net cash from operating activities (continuing operations) less capital expenditures (continuing operations), both of which are reported in our Consolidated Statement of Cash Flows. Net cash from operating
activities excludes net cash from operating activities of our discontinued operations. We believe the most comparable GAAP financial measure of our liquidity is net cash from operating activities. We believe that Free Cash Flow is useful as an indicator of our overall liquidity, as the amount of Free Cash Flow generated in any period is representative of cash that is available for debt repayment and other discretionary and non-discretionary cash uses. It is also one of several indicators of our ability to make investments and/or return capital to our shareholders. We also believe that Free Cash Flow is one of several benchmarks used by analysts and investors who follow our industry for comparison of our liquidity with other companies in our industry, although our measure of Free Cash Flow may not be directly comparable to similar measures reported by other companies.”

February 22, 2010, Melville, N.Y. Union leaders representing the Newsday workers who produce and deliver the Long Island daily newspaper will meet with the papers management Tuesday to verify the company’s claim that it is losing $7 million.

These talks have been delayed twice because of snow.

Leading the union team for Local 406 of the Graphic Communications Conference/International Brotherhood of Teamsters will be George Tedeschi, president of the GCC. Also present will Bruce Lambert, a former Newsday reporter who helped launch the editorial unit of Local 406 in 1976 and who was a union vice president for more than two decades.

Local 406 has asked Newsday for detailed financial records. Union leaders hope to receive the financial information at this meeting.

Jim Kimball, director of the Teamsters Economics and Contracts Department, will be present to inspect these records when they are made available. Also at the table will be the vice presidents and stewards of the six bargaining units of the union local.

On Jan. 24, Local 406 overwhelmingly rejected a proposal to reduce salaries by 10 to 15 percent, cut vacations and lengthen the work week. After the 473-10 vote, Local 406 members have displayed unity, showing solidarity by wearing the same color on chosen days.

Union leaders said they stand ready to help, as in the past, as Newsday management says the paper is financially troubled.

Local 406 looks forward to partnering with the company in seeking a viable newspaper and fair working conditions for Newsday’s reporters, photographers, editors, press operators, platemakers, electronic pre-press workers, truck drivers and building and maintenance workers.

For more information, contact Local 406 Editorial Vice President Zachary Dowdy, 631-843-2294 or 516-524-1943 (cell).

It’s a good week to wear your buttons. If anyone needs one of the new ones, see Zack, Liisa or me.