Addiction programs need adequate funding

As an addiction treatment professional for the past 38 years, I want to salute those in Lake County who are embracing treatment over punishment for people who have the disease of addiction.

One sentence in the article, "The person seeking treatment will be responsible for paying for the services," points out a possible fatal flaw with the initiative. The Illinois budget crisis aside, there has not been adequate funding for addiction services for many, many years. Even when there was a budget, thousands of addicts were unable to access treatment due to a lack of available treatment slots.

This has occurred despite the federal government's estimate that communities save seven dollars for every dollar spent on treatment; primarily from lower criminal justice and health care costs.

As Illinois seeks to balance its books and get a budget passed, I hope that there will be adequate funding so that no one in Illinois will be turned away when they finally make the decision to enter recovery.

Joe Rosenfeld

Elgin