GOVERNMENT OF THE
Department of Health
STATEMENT OF
TYRONE PATTERSON
PROGRAM MANAGER
MODEL TREATMENT PROGRAM
ADDICTION PREVENTION & RECOVERY
ADMINISTRATION
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH
BEFORE THE
HOUSE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE
SUBCOMMITTEE ON
CRIME, TERRORISM & HOMELAND SECURITY
ON
H.R. 4547
Safe Access to Drug Treatment and Child Protection Act of 2004
United States
The
Room 2141
Good afternoon Mr. Chairman, distinguished Members of Congress and this
Subcommittee, colleagues and concerned advocates and members of the
community. My name is Tyrone Patterson,
Program Manager for the Model Treatment Program located at
Through our Model Treatment Program, the Addiction Prevention and Recovery Administration (APRA) within the District of Columbia Department of Health (DOH) provides comprehensive opioid treatment, methadone medication, counseling, group education and case management activities for over three hundred patients. In addition, the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities accredits the District’s Model Treatment Program.
I have worked in drug treatment for twenty-eight years, including twenty-two years in Model Treatment and serving as its Program Manager since 1991.
It gives me great pleasure to testify before you today. Two years ago, when the Washington Post first interviewed me, I did not imagine that this issue would reach so far and impact so many. For that, I am truly grateful and honored. Beyond the fact that today marks my first time ever before a convened body of Congress, I remain extremely passionate and personally involved in the issues presented before us.
I take my job very personally. I view it with a great sense of commitment and determination because it is so much more than just a job – it is a daily matter of life and death. I am in the business of saving lives. What we do in Model Treatment is save human beings from the negative and destructive grips of drug addiction. It is a struggle defined by spiritual and emotional skirmishes, trenches and body bags. We are on the front line of a great war and I take that responsibility very seriously. I also take great comfort in the fact that, each day, I am doing what’s best to serve the common good and the community entrusting us to do just that. At Model Treatment, we do more than serve and treat addicts - we protect communities, families and children who are greatly impacted by substance abuse and addiction.
It is heartening to know that I am on the right side of that battlefield.
But, I also lead a troubled and worried life - a life burdened by the valley of shadow and death that I must travel through each day. Although I draw immense satisfaction from the good work that I am engaged in, I cannot help but be troubled. Each day brings with it uncertainty because of what we do and who we help.
There is this notion – a stigma, in fact – that drug addiction is a behavioral problem caused by bad habits, personal sin and irresponsibility. I am here to tell you today that such a notion could be further from the truth.
Drug addiction is a disease and a
debilitating dysfunction of the brain.
There are people that we help, treat and counsel for addiction who
believe that what they are doing is actually
This is a great challenge we face head on at Model Treatment.
To many addicts, NORMALCY consists of the next high. This mindset runs deeper for those individuals that have lived with their disease for twenty or thirty years. Many addicts have not witnessed or experienced another way of life. Model Treatment is critical because we show addicts an alternative.
People, particularly those defeated by addiction, must have access to different choices. If not, they can’t understand what it’s like to not be an addict. Hence, it becomes a battle for the soul since many are unaware of any other life or completely forget the life they once had. At Model Treatment, we engage addicts with a positive alternative and the potential for substantive and positive outcomes.
Treatment by itself is a tough and arduous road. But, imagine being treated and looking forward to it, taking that first major step, and then forced to walk through a virtual minefield of temptation and addiction right outside the Program doors. Imagine being preyed upon by dealers only moments after you’ve made that critical first decision to seek treatment and create positive change in your life.
Sometimes we win these battles. But, many other times, we don’t win. Too many of our patients relapse as soon as they leave Model Treatment, finding themselves bombarded with opportunities to regress due to the overwhelming presence of drug dealers.
It has been a severe and continuing problem for many years. Dealers traffic numerous illegal and addicting substances to our clients soon after they have undergone treatment. Each day, I survey this activity right below my office window, an anxious anthill of criminal motives, unabated, in a McDonald’s parking lot and the corner of First and New York Avenues, NE. It is a sight that depresses and angers me.
Fortunately, it has improved over the past several years due to coordinated planning and response with the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD). It still presents a pressing challenge, but we have found ways to fight back.
Over the years, our vigilance and
determination, in partnership with the MPD, has actually diminished much of
this activity. Increased police presence
and increased arrests, coupled by my own personal and sometimes dangerous
confrontations with dealers, have dealt a major blow to the dark industry
plaguing our patients. In addition, we
have taken the dramatic, but highly useful, step of opening Model Treatment an
hour earlier. We now open at
You would be amazed to see how treatment works, because when it takes hold on an addict, they become alive. It’s as though they’re taking a breath of fresh air for the first time in their life. Suddenly, they view their addiction and the dealers much differently. We help them realize what made them vulnerable in the first place. They view the dealer negatively because they recognize that such a life has no positive influence or outcome.
Treatment works because we actually show them that addiction and the dealing outside the Program walls are barriers. I routinely invite clients into my office to look outside and watch the dealers stalk their prey. This vivid display of unadulterated addiction actually angers, offends and saddens every client who witnesses it. We tell them: “This is what you look like.” They respond shamed and embarrassed, but they are also motivated to do something about it.
As a result of our efforts, the patients themselves are telling dealers not to traffic around their Model Treatment Program. Patients routinely volunteer information about drug sales occurring around the entire block, including information about illegal and discrete trafficking within the McDonalds. The increased police presence and joint surveillance have been so aggressive that dealers find other ways by which they can sell their product.
Ultimately, I want my people to feel safe and protected when entering Model Treatment. I’m also concerned that drug trafficking around our Program actually heightens the stigma attached to addicts and the places that treat them. It negates the good work that we do. This should, instead, be a peaceful and serene location where patients are undeterred in their quest for recovery and a better way of life. The comfort comes from the fact that I know the dealers and they know I’ll call the police and have them chased away or locked up.
In principle, H.R. 4547 directly addresses the problem by imposing penalties severe enough to make the dealer think twice. It brings with it grave consequences for the dealers and sends a stern message that we desperately need in our fight to save lives.
My only concern is that H.R. 4547 lacks a provision that allows treatment for dealers that are addicts. There are some addicts so desperate for a hit that they will resort to dealing and endangering other addicts in order to get money for the next high. They are not really driven by profit; they too are struggling with a disease that has left them without options and no place to go. They feel the only way to survive is the next hit. The next hit, therefore, is obtained by gaining funds from drug sales. They do not recognize their faults because they are afflicted with this terrible disease, and they need treatment. In this case, I ask this body to consider an additional provision that balances increased penalties with opportunities for treatment. Such flexibility in this law would also address the concerns of advocates who have launched a nationwide movement favoring treatment over punishment.
If the culture of substance abuse is pervasive and right at your doorstep, it makes the war many times harder to fight. This is why H.R. 4547 has the potential to serve as a useful and effective resource in that fight. Model Treatment is an oasis of help in a desert of hopelessness. Yet, our oasis is surrounded by adversaries we confront daily. We need the necessary tools to help our clients reach that oasis safely and undeterred.
Thank you, again, Mr. Chairman for this opportunity to testify before you today. I am available to answer any questions and look forward to working closely with this Subcommittee.