Pubdate: Fri, 09 Dec 2005 Source: Coast Reporter (CN BC) Copyright: 2005 Coast Reporter Contact: http://www.coastreporter.net/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/580 Author: Patricia Hall, Staff Writer Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/hr.htm (Harm Reduction) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/heroin.htm (Heroin) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?136 (Methadone) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/rehab.htm (Treatment) METHADONE CLINIC OPENS IN SECHELT The Coast's first-ever methadone maintenance clinic has been up and running for its first successful month. The methadone maintenance program is a harm reduction program stabilizing heroin and opiate dependent people. Before the clinic opened, people in the program were getting methadone prescriptions from doctors' offices. The clinic offers a more holistic and attentive environment to address surrounding issues in the person's life. The doctors on the Coast who prescribe methadone, James McFarland and Ron Estey, are alternating weeks staffing the clinic, along with a nurse. "I'm a real firm believer in it," McFarland said. "It's for people who have tried to quit or get off drugs and haven't been able to. It allows them to stabilize their lives. I've seen people get back to work whereas before they couldn't." Ron Mundy will be the backup doctor. "I'm hoping that getting individuals who have opiate-dependent issues involved in a more holistic approach that we may be able to help people start developing stable lifestyles and eventually get off methadone," Mundy said. The clinic runs every Thursday from 1 p.m. to 4:30 out of Vancouver Coastal Health's (VCH) mental health and addictions' trailer annex for the home detox program beside St. Mary's Hospital. McFarland brought up the idea a few years ago and home detox nurse Wendy Hunt continued to push for it to finally happen. Maureen Oliver has been the project's consultant, and Barnabas Walther, VCH's North Shore/Coast Garibaldi director for mental health and addictions, has also been a partner in the project. The idea was to create a place where people who are getting methadone maintenance could get counselling, including help with nutrition, through a team approach, Hunt said. The two doctors were not taking new methadone clients, so some people were travelling to Vancouver for prescriptions. McFarland said he had been having difficulty expanding the program and was squeezing people in between patients. So he thought he should co-ordinate with other people involved in drug treatment as a team. "I don't think doctors were able to give it the full attention it deserved," McFarland said. The methadone clinic is accepting new clients by appointment and already has 15 or 20 registered, according to Laurie-Ann Ketter, program support for addictions and detox. Some people on the methadone program prefer to continue seeing their doctor in his office instead of a clinic setting, McFarland said, or because of the travel from Gibsons to Sechelt. But McFarland is encouraging patients to use the clinic because of the available nursing. This week was the clinic's fourth session after its Nov. 17 opening date. Hunt had been staffing the clinic as the nurse for the first few weeks. A new nurse now has been hired specifically for the clinic and started Thursday. Hunt found the people coming through the clinic seemed to like it and noted it gives people more time to talk about the issues in their lives, such as housing and physical health. She hopes to eventually link the clinic with other agencies and services such as human resources. Federal funding applications for the clinic were rejected over the last few years, but with the acknowledgement that it was a good idea. VCH's Sunshine Coast director of mental health and addictions Paul Charron managed to scrape together some funding to get it started this year. "It may be a model for other rural communities," Hunt said. The College of Physicians and Surgeons of B.C. regulates the methadone maintenance program, so the clinic established detailed policies and procedures. People will come in and get a prescription from the doctor then have it filled at one of the pharmacies in the community. Most are on daily witnessed ingestions of the synthetic opioid powder which is mixed with juice. Ted Macdonald, a counsellor with the home detox program, was initially not in favour of methadone treatment, seeing it as free drugs for people. But through education on what it's about, his perception has completely shifted. He has seen how a person's quality of life improves while on the program. And the clinic offers counselling and closer monitoring to ensure people on the program are using it to improve their lives. Methadone treatment reduces cravings and prevents withdrawal symptoms from opioid drug dependence to heroin, codeine or morphine. Benefits of methadone maintenance include reducing intravenous drug use and other mood-altering drugs, improved mental and physical health, reduced criminal activity, improved living situation, improved relationships and improved work opportunities, according to a methadone maintenance handbook. The clinic accepts self-referrals as well as referrals from doctors or other service providers. To make an appointment, phone the clinic at 604-885-8678. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake