State lawmakers heard from representatives from the Kentucky Justice and Public Safety Cabinet on Wednesday. They were discussing substance use treatment programs with the Budget Review Subcommittee on Justice and Judiciary.
Van Ingram is the director of the office drug control policy. He said his budget included a general fund of one million dollars to help with treatment and recovery programs. He said there are several factors that can lead to someone becoming an addict.
“ACES people go through as children, the higher likelihood there are of them have substance use disorder. Things like food insecurity, violence in the home, difficult divorce, these things are ACES that we see in the history of people who often use substances.”
ACES stands for Adverse Childhood Experiences.
While members of the cabinet discussed how the treatment programs work, not everyone was sold on the idea. State Senator John Schickle of Union, Kentucky said treatment is not enough.
“With certain drugs, mere possession is a felony, somehow that’s been lost. I know that you have a lot of statistics showing how well the programs work, but the reality of the matter is, we’re spending more money than we ever have on treatment, and we have more drug addiction than ever.”
Kentucky Drug Control Policy director Van Ingram said his department has programs that help those already incarcerated. The department used funds to have researchers at the University of Kentucky find ways to improve the programs already in place.
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