Proposed bill may encourage troops to get treatment for drug, alcohol abuse

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Proposed bill may encourage troops to get treatment for drug, alcohol abuse
By Mark Abramson, Stars and Stripes
European edition, Monday, February 2, 2009

A Missouri senator has proposed a bill that would in some cases keep under wraps the identities of servicemembers who seek help for alcohol or drug abuse.

Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill proposed the bill following the testimony of Defense Secretary Robert Gates in the U.S. Senate Tuesday. The bill is called the Support for Substance Use Disorders Act.

"Our men and women in uniform deserve the very best health care available," McCaskill said in a press release. "Substance abuse is a medical problem and to think they can’t get the help they need, or worse receive punishment instead of treatment is outrageous."

According to McCaskill’s office, she became aware of the issue after a whistleblower at Fort Leonard Wood, Mo., complained about understaffing and mismanagement in the alcohol and drug abuse treatment program there. The base has made great strides in fixing those problems since McCaskill started looking into the matter last fall, said Maria Speiser, a spokesman for the senator’s office.

The main issue that the bill seeks to address is that people should not be discouraged from seeking help when they need help, but at the same time the senator understands that commanders need to know what is going on in their ranks, Speiser said.


Rest of article at: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=60419