Montgomery Goes Under the Needle

As New Age music fills the room, 19 men and women settle into four rows of plastic chairs. They swab their ears with alcohol towelettes and sit quietly. Slowly, another man and a woman move among the rows. With quiet precision, they insert five sharp needles into each of the people's ears. Nobody flinches when the needles hit the flesh. In fact, some of the men and women have tiny grins on their faces.

This is addiction treatment, Montgomery County style. These people are participating in a pilot program that uses acupuncture, an ancient Chinese medical practice, to help treat addiction. More than a dozen people a day are volunteering to be stuck with needles as part of the county's acudetox program, which began last month and is one of a handful in the Washington region.

Karlys Wright, 37, was one of the first to arrive for the early morning acudetox session. She said she almost didn't give acupuncture a try because she doesn't like needles. But in a brief time, she has become a fan of the New Age treatment.

"I feel rejuvenated," the former administrative assistant from Rockville said. "I don't know how to explain it."

In the fall, Montgomery County Council member Duchy Trachtenberg (D-At Large) persuaded her colleagues to spend $20,000 on a pilot program that would incorporate acupuncture into treatments for drug addiction. Acupuncture is used as a strategy to calm and relax patients before they take part in other treatments, such as group therapy.

"It's cutting edge," she said. "There's no question about that."

The Chinese have used acupuncture for centuries to treat a variety of ailments, including chronic plan and infertility. Its use as a strategy for treating addiction is gaining popularity in communities across the country, Trachtenberg said. Programs are in place from California to Florida. In the Washington region, acupuncture is used in addiction programs in Baltimore and Fairfax County.

The hard science behind acupuncture remains elusive. But those who run treatment programs say that, anecdotally, they see a marked change in the attitude of patients, who are calmer and more receptive to therapy.

The Fairfax program has been in place since the late 1990s. Although the county has not done official research on the method, Larry Peacock, director of the Fairfax Detoxification Center, said patients say acupuncture has helped reduce their alcohol and drug cravings and made it easier for them to sleep.

"One of the things that we did and have seen is a reduction of incidents with clients arguing; the anxiousness and agitation levels are lowered," Peacock said.

Larry Gamble, manager of outpatient addiction services, behavioral health and crisis services for the Montgomery Department of Health and Human Services, says he initially had doubts about sticking people with needles. But after taking part in a session, Gamble has become a convert.

"We've been amazed at how some of the clients have been able to slow themselves down and be more focused and be more open when they go into individual group therapy," he said. "Clients say they sleep better and feel less stressed."