Which treatment services are the toughest to access?

A plea for assistance last week from the National Inhalant Prevention Coalition (NIPC; www.inhalants.org) caught my eye, and left me wondering whether others in the field are facing difficulties in accessing specialized treatment services for certain individuals in need.

The end-of-week alert asked for assistance in identifying adult inpatient facility options for inhalant abuse in New Orleans and in Steamboat Springs, Colo. The treatment locator provided by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) has turned up nothing, and calls to state agencies and local treatment programs either went unreturned or resulted in replies along the lines of, “I’m sorry, we don’t admit huffers.”

NIPC director Harvey Weiss cited the desperate cases of a 49-year-old college-educated mother who is addicted to computer cleaner and a 21-year-old college dropout whose addiction led to traffic accidents and jail time. Weiss stated in the alert, “I now come to you with the hope that people on our e-mail lists will come forward to help rescue these folks. As we know, sudden-sniffing-death is a potential outcome if we fail.”

Weiss added in the e-mail that the coalition intends to establish its own directory of inhalant treatment facilities and to promote it through its website.

The alert got me to thinking: In this day and age where every treatment program seems to be promoting its special niches in treatment, what types of treatment remain the most difficult to access? Which populations still lack sufficient options? Let me know about what you’re experiencing in your community.