U.S. PROGRAM FOR DRUG USERS, ALCOHOLICS RARELY SUCCESSFUL

Less than one percent of low-income drug addicts and alcoholics who collect disability benefits ever recover or get jobs, according to a federal study released today. The inspector general of the Department of Health and Human Services said that most stop collecting benefits only when they die or are sent to prison. Investigators tracked 20,101 recipients on the rolls in mid-1990. By February 1994, 76 percent were still on Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and just 197 had jobs. The SSI program -- a welfare program run by the Social Security Administration for the elderly and disabled -- currently supports 80,000 drug addicts and alcoholics. "The study lends some support to the idea that some federal assistance programs are not achieving the goals they are designed to achieve," says TIME health-care writer Janice Castro. "This is a particularly distressing number." Still, the current SSI rules are set to change: Under a new law launching in March, drug addicts and alcoholics on SSI will be kicked off the rolls after three years -- whether or not they receive treatment. Today, they can be suspended only if they refuse treatment.Post your opinion on theSocietybulletin board.