Resolution 3450 - Laserfiche WebLink

f 10 RESOLUTION NO. 3450 E!/ERETT A Resolution opposing the establishment of methadone treatment programs in the city of Everett. WHEREAS, Drug addiction is prevalent in our society; and WHEREAS, the tragic consequences of this addiction is nowhere more apparent than in the lives of pregnant heroin (opiate) addicts; and WHEREAS, fortunately, the number of such women in Snohomish County is small, as is the general heroin addicted population of the county; and WHEREAS, drug free programs emphasizing abstinence as the primary treatment of choice for drug addiction of all types must be affirmed, encouraged and upheld in our community in an effort to reclaim lives devastated by drug addiction, and to prevent addiction in unborn babies; and WHEREAS, a study reported in Addictive Behaviors, Volume 13 , pp. , 275-284, 1988, said, "The fact that methadone-exposed youngsters have more problems than the heroin-exposed youngsters has broad ethical and societal implications. It is possible that methadone treatment for maternal heroin addiction later produces more harm than benefit to children who are already disproportionately in the disadvantaged segments of society. " ; and WHEREAS, drug free treatment is of particular importance in heroin specific treatment where the substitution of one addictive drug (methadone) for another addictive drug (heroin) creates possible conditions for a continuous cycle of dependence that establishes a permanent class of addicts; and WHEREAS, we must act now to interrupt such cycles in a cooperative effort by government, law enforcement, medical and substance abuse treatment communities, human service agencies charged with meeting survival needs of addicts, and the general public; and WHEREAS, heroin is a miniscule portion of the addiction problem in Snohomish County where alcohol and cocaine (crack) are the drugs of choice, and that should be taken into account when establishing treatment; and