Pubdate: Wed, 14 Sep 2005
Source: Grand Forks Gazette (CN BC)
Copyright: 2005 Sterling Newspapers
Contact:  http://www.mapinc.org/media/525
Author: Paul Willcocks

LACK OF TREATMENT HAMPERS METH-WAR

Your teeth are rotting, your face is a mess of sores.  Your body hurts, 
your money is gone and so are your friends family. You figure you better 
get off crystal meth. That should be a victory in the war on drugs.  One 
less person buying drugs, getting sick, ending up in jail. Except that when 
addicts go looking for help, it's not there.

Here in Victoria there is not a single detox bed for adult meth 
addicts.  The Vancouver Island Health Authority only has one adult detox 
centre in the Victoria area, with seven beds - far short of what's needed. 
The centre no longer takes people trying to quit meth of cocaine.  Given 
the few beds, health authority says, the centre will only take people 
withdrawing from alcohol or heroin.  They face more serious physical risks 
from detox.  The waiting list is still long, and potentially deadly.

It's not just a Vancouver Island phenomenon.  In communities across the 
province addicts are going looking for help, and finding detox and 
treatment aren't available.  Counsellors have to decide who is in so much 
danger that they should wheedle and push to squeeze them into a treatment 
program, and who can take their chances on the streets for another couple 
of months. Remember that the next time some politician starts talking about 
how important it is to fight the scourge of crystal meth. If they were 
serious about dealing with meth addiction - and if they thought we were 
serious - then treatment would be available.

The health authority here suggests people on meth can detox at home. But 
meth withdrawal is a nightmare for most addicts.  They face depression, 
paranoia, anger and thoughts of suicide, and suffer from massive cravings 
for the drug.  Their chances of success fall sharply without support.

Out-patient detox might work for some addicts, if they have housing, and 
support from family or friends.

But for the many addicts living in shelters, or on the street or in a 
run-down rooming house with other people using drugs, the idea that they 
can detox on their own is ludicrous.

Just as it is ludicrous to expect people trying to get off drugs to wait 
weeks or months for treatment.  Every day they wait, they are in danger of 
losing their resolve, and falling back into their addictions (or dying).

Talk to the people on the front lines, the health care professionals and 
counsellors and parents, and they'll tell you the shortage of detox and 
treatment programs is one of the most serious problems in fighting meth. 
But the provincial government's latest report on its ant-meth effort makes 
no mention of addressing the shortage of spaces. The health authorities 
reflect the government's priorities. Instead the politicians and talk shows 
are going on about tougher sentences for meth manufacturers and dealers, 
and better controls on the ingredients needed to make the drugs. Those 
measures will make a difference.  Prices may rise, deterring some users.

Criminals may decide to deal in a different drug, hopefully a less 
dangerous one. But the fight against meth, or any other drug, isn't going 
to be won by eliminating the supply.  We have shown over the last 70 years 
- - since Prohibition - that if enough demand exists, suppliers will 
emerge.  A fortune spent on enforcement efforts against heroin suppliers 
over the last 15 years hasn't reduced the availability of the drug.

The best chance of success lies in tackling the demand side. Education is 
important, and included in the province's meth plan People can be given the 
information to help them make smart choices. So is support once people have 
become addicts.  Measures to reduce the damage done - like safe injection 
sites - keep people alive, healthy, and out of crime while they are using. 
And so is treatment.

We can talk all we like about fighting crystal meth.  If we aren't prepared 
to provide anything close to adequate treatment for desperate addicts, it's 
just so many empty words.

Footnote: Vancouver Island Health Authority is failing younger 
addicts.  The five youth detox beds, once full, are now under-used because 
the authority decided to enforce a strict smoking ban. Kids can't 
contemplate kicking meth and cigarettes, so they are staying away entirely 
or leaving treatment early.  The foolish policy deters kids from getting 
off drugs.
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MAP posted-by: Elizabeth Wehrman