Pubdate: Sun, 19 Sep 2004 Source: Edmonton Sun (CN AB) Copyright: 2004, Canoe Limited Partnership. Contact: http://www.canoe.com/NewsStand/EdmontonSun/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/135 Author: Mindelle Jacobs, For the Edmonton Sun Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/coke.htm (Cocaine) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/rehab.htm (Treatment) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/youth.htm (Youth) YOUNG METH-HEADS NEED OUR HELP At a provincial seminar on methamphetamine last week, Alberta Solicitor General Heather Forsyth reiterated her proposal that youth drug addicts should be forced into treatment. While that might be a good idea under the right circumstances, it's probably putting the cart before the horse. Few people may know this, but the Alberta Alcohol and Drug Abuse Commission (AADAC) has no residential detox centres for youth. How can this be? I'm as flabbergasted as you are, but that's the reality in one of the wealthiest provinces in the country. Marilyn Mitchell, AADAC's manager of youth services, says the agency would like to fill this "gap", and the need has been addressed in AADAC's business plan. Whether residential detox/treatment beds appear, however, depends on provincial funding. And Health Minister Gary Mar made it clear in July that there's no money for expanded treatment programs. How's that for common sense? The province sponsors a workshop on methamphetamine, but is too short-sighted to acknowledge that some drug-addicted kids, especially meth-heads, need intensive, long-term help. AADAC does have three-month residential support programs for youth in Edmonton and Calgary, where services include group and individual counselling and on-site schooling. But the kids spent the night in private homes and go to treatment centres during the day. "For most kids, residential support is a good model," says Mitchell of the 16 beds available for youth in private homes in the province's two largest cities. But other addicted teens need a more structured environment, she says. Male young offenders who have severe drug problems can get into residential treatment through the John Howard Society. And drug-addicted kids under the care of Children's Services have access to the residential program at the Chimo Youth Retreat Centre. But there are no 24-hour services for kids who aren't involved with the justice system or the child welfare system. For the families of those children, it can be an overwhelming challenge, says Mitchell. "It's hard to stand by and feel that you're powerless to do anything," she says of parents whose children are crystal meth addicts. While there are ADDAC offices all over the province that provide counselling and family support services, day programs alone aren't likely to win the battle against crystal meth, one of the most insidious drugs around. A synthetic stimulant, it's cheap, accessible, highly addictive and can do enormous damage to your central nervous system. A report on the drug for the City of Edmonton's Safer Cities Advisory Committee earlier this year noted that users never know what they're consuming. Meth is made by combining and cooking household chemicals and extracts from cold medicine like ephedrine - massive quantities of which were seized in a police bust in Hanna last week. "For $10, a meth user can get a rush followed by a high lasting (up to) 12 hours, compared with about 20 minutes from crack cocaine for the same amount of money," the report observed. But people high on meth are prone to paranoia and violence, go days without sleep and become depressed and suicidal after they crash and go into withdrawal. Addicts need more and more crystal meth to get the same high, and beating the psychological addiction is extremely difficult. "This stuff is pretty vicious and I'm not someone who is easily alarmist," says Benedikt Fischer, a drug and public health expert at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health. And the relapse rate for recovering addicts is high, he says. "(Recovery) is not impossible but the prospects overall are not so terribly good." Crystal meth use is "rampant" among young people, according to a local addictions worker quoted in the Safer Cities report. - --- MAP posted-by: Terry Liittschwager