April 28, 1999

WHAT DO KANSAS TAXPAYERS PAY FOR SUBSTANCE ABUSE?

LAWRENCE -- The chief researcher for the Texas Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse, Jane Maxwell of Austin, will speak to 14 Kansas researchers and practitioners at noon Friday, April 30, at the Adams Alumni Center at the University of Kansas.

The 14 researchers and practitioners are part of a new group known as the State Epidemiology Work Group formed to gather and assess information about the abuse of alcohol and other drugs in Kansas -- particularly the cost to taxpayers. Epidemiology studies the cause and control of epidemics.

Jacob U. Gordon, director of KU's Center for Multicultural Leadership, organized the group following a 1996 federally funded study by the center on "Substance Abuse and Higher Education: The Case of Kansas and Missouri."

"We found that there is no monitoring of trends and patterns of substance abuse in Kansas. No one knows the costs to Kansans. We don't know the impact of substance abuse in terms of health and insurance costs, the mortality rates or incarceration," Gordon said.

Gordon said the Kansas epidemiology group is new but is patterned after community groups established in 1976 by the National Institute on Drug Abuse. Funding for the group is through the Multicultural Leadership Center.

"This is our first meeting. We will conduct monthly or bimonthly seminars around the state. We will be collecting, analyzing and reviewing data on substance abuse from a variety of sources in Kansas," Gordon said.

The group will use the Kansas data to

Gordon said the 1996 study conducted by the Center for Multicultural Leadership found that good research on substance abuse is abundant, but few of the researchers are involved in the delivery of services in the communities where they live and work. Secondly, the gap is wide between research and practice. Finally, few college courses covering substance abuse are offered to students preparing for occupations such as medicine, nursing, education, social work or psychology.

The State Epidemiology Work Group members are:

From KU
William R. Arnold, associate professor of sociology
Jacob U. Gordon, associate professor and research associate in KU's Life Span Institute and director of the Center for Multicultural Leadership
Craig A. Molgaard, professor and vice chair of preventive medicine, KU School of Medicine-Wichita
Bob Nunley, professor of geography
Elizabeth C. Penick, professor of psychiatry at the KU Medical Center, Kansas City, Kan.
From the Juvenile Justice Authority in Topeka
Robert B. Hedberg, assistant commissioner, research and prevention From the Kansas Board of Education
Carolyn Clement
From the Kansas Bureau of Investigation
Mary Ann Howerton
From the Kansas Department of Corrections
Roger Werholtz, deputy secretary
From the Kansas Department of Health and Environment
Dr. Gianfianco Pezzino, director of the epidemiology division
From the Kansas Sentencing Commission in Topeka
Fongfang Lu, research analyst
From the Kansas Social and Rehabilitation Services Department
Suzanne Woods, director of research
From KC LINK in Kansas City, Mo.
Tracy Dranginis, research and analysis
From the Veterans Hospital in Topeka
Nancy Garfield, research director

Story by Mary Jane Dunlap, University Relations, (785) 864-8853

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