MonticelloLive

The Senate Committee on Public Health, Welfare and Labor heard shocking and sad reports about domestic abuse and drug addiction.

So far this year 24 Arkansans have been killed in incidents of domestic abuse. That means we’re well on the way to breaking a record set in 2005, when 26 victims of domestic abuse were killed in Arkansas.
The report came from the executive director of the Arkansas Coalition Against Domestic Violence.
At the same meeting, the Public Health Committee heard alarming statistics about the number of Arkansans who abuse drugs and alcohol. The director of the state Bureau of Alcohol and Drug Abuse Prevention said that 206,000 Arkansas residents would benefit from treatment for abusing drugs or alcohol. Of even greater concern is the fact that they are not getting treatment.
Some legislators voiced concern that such a high percentage of the state’s population needed treatment for alcohol or drug abuse. According to the experts at the meeting, Arkansas is comparable to other states in the number of people who abuse drugs and alcohol.
About 16,100 Arkansas residents received some type of drug abuse treatment last year. In 1977 the legislature created the Bureau of Alcohol and Drug Abuse Prevention, within the Department of Human Services.
The Bureau and a coordinating council award grants to local organizations. They also monitor the effectiveness of local drug treatment efforts.
Members of the coordinating council include representatives of law enforcement, criminal justice, prisons, education, health professionals and drug counselors.
The Alcohol and Drug Prevention Bureau licenses the local agencies. One requirement for licensure is that employees and volunteers who provide drug counseling must be properly trained.
Drug abuse can take many forms besides the consumption of illegal substances. For example, people abuse legal products such as alcoholic beverages and prescription medications.
Water Quality Inspectors
The state Department of Environmental Quality has eight inspectors to monitor water quality at natural gas drilling sites. Those same inspectors have other duties too, such as responding to complaints about contamination of water sources.
An issue in the next legislative session will be whether the Department should increase its staff of inspectors. The agency director told legislators that no penalties have been assessed against drillers in the Fayetteville shale play, and that production companies have been cooperative about reporting and cleaning up spills.
The wells require a lot of water to extract the natural gas, as well as reserve pits to hold waste water. The number of pits has risen from 173 in 2002 to 888 this year, corresponding with increased production in the shale play.
Production of natural gas has benefited the Arkansas economy, and has greatly boosted local economies in some areas. State government promotes economic development, but also has the duty of protecting clean water sources for drinking and irrigation.