Alan Fleischman."Introductory Presentation: The First International Conference On Heroin Maintenance." Presented At: First International Conference on Heroin Maintenance. New York Academy of Medicine, New York, NY. June 6, 1998.
My name is Alan Fleischman, I'm Senior Vice President here at the New York Academy of Medicine and I want to welcome you to the First International Conference on Heroin Maintenance.
The New York Academy of Medicine is pleased to join with the Beth Israel Medical Center, the Columbia University School of Public Health, The Lindesmith Center of the Open Society Institute, Montefiore Medical Center and the Yale University Center for Interdisciplinary Research on AIDS in sponsoring this program.
In New York City today, there are about 200,000 injecting drug users, approximately 35,000 methadone treatment program slots available and about 5,000 residential treatment slots available. The cost to our society in human lives, suffering, crime and the loss of human potential is astounding.
In 1995, with the help of many of the people here, the Academy of Medicine sponsored a symposium, Harm Reduction Drug Policies in Practice, International Developments and Domestic Initiatives. That program's proceedings, which was published, is an important part of a 50 year interest on the part of the Academy of Medicine in substance abuse treatment and harm reduction.
In 1997, the Academy of Medicine produced a document which was used in part to work at the state and federal level called Addiction Treatment, Promoting a Medical Approach to Substance Abuse. And we said in the preamble to that document, "Substance abuse and addiction treatment are fundamental concerns for the medical and public health communities. The Academy of Medicine, a leader in health policy, education and promotion since 1847, has a long-standing commitment to contributing to rational discourse on treating substance abuse and in addressing its implications for the quality of urban life and community health."
We believe that the fields of medicine and public health must seize the opportunity to address substance abuse as a priority issue for urban health, and we convene today to continue that dialogue and that understanding about issues surrounding substance abuse.
I want to acknowledge the efforts of the staff of the Lindesmith Center, the Open Society Institute, and our own Gary Stein here at the New York Academy of Medicine who's been director of the project to bring this conference together.
I want to make it clear that the Academy of Medicine at this time does not endorse nor does it oppose the development of heroin maintenance programs in the United States. The Academy of Medicine is committed to promoting professional dialogue on all important medical issues.
For over 150 year the Academy has had a tradition of making legitimate medical research available to all members of society. We are committed to supporting expanded access to drug treatment services for all drug users, to research on the effectiveness of all approaches to drug treatment and of new treatment modalities, and to education for health professionals on the knowledge, skills and attitudes needed for effective addiction care.
I look forward to learning with you today as we develop a new area for Americans to understand in drug treatment. And it's my great pleasure to introduce Ethan Nadelmann, the Director of the Lindesmith Center, who will bring the program to its beginning.
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