OKPOLICY.ORG
Steve Lewis served as Speaker of the Oklahoma House of Representatives from 1989-1991. He currently practices law in Tulsa and represents clients at the Capitol. You can find past Capitol Updates archived on his website.
State Agencies are working on their budget requests for FY 2018, and eCapitol reports the Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services is asking for $37.8 million to pay for additional drug and alcohol treatment and prevention services if SQ 792 passes a vote of the people in November. Some might see this as a way of opposing SQ 792.
There’s no doubt ODMHSAS needs more money for drug and alcohol treatment, a lot more than an additional $37.8 million. The people who provide treatment and prevention services, working mainly through private and non-profit agencies who contract with ODMHSAS and other state agencies, have suffered for years with low payment rates for their services. In fact, thousands of Oklahomans who already need treatment can’t get it. Failure to get timely treatment leads to worsening of the addiction, declining mental and physical health, economic and family crises and ultimately more cost to society.
So I may be speaking out of turn, but I wish we could strike a better balance in our public conversation between limiting supply and limiting demand. Yes, changing store hours or changing where you have to go to buy a bottle of wine or a cold beer or a sack of ice may have some effect on the consumption of alcohol. ODMHSAS says there are studies. But making it as inconvenient as possible for people to buy what the overwhelming majority of people want to buy seems like a pretty inefficient way to deal with the problem. If people want to, they will.
I’ve been in Oklahoma long enough to remember bootleggers, police raids, “private membership” clubs, bring your own bottle, liquor by the “wink” and quite a few law enforcement officers getting in trouble for being too cozy with liquor operations. None of this seemed to stop any man, woman, or adolescent who really wanted to get a drink from getting a drink. So, I guess my point is that blaming SQ 792 for increased consumption just seems like a distraction. By all means, give ODMHSAS more money. But give it to them because we have an epidemic of demand, not because people may see a bottle of wine in the grocery store. And in the meantime let’s all try to figure out what’s causing the demand and work on it. I doubt it’s buying your mixer at the same store with your whiskey.
