Pubdate: Mon, 21 Aug 2006
Source: Vancouver Sun (CN BC)
Copyright: 2006 The Vancouver Sun
Contact:  http://www.canada.com/vancouver/vancouversun/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/477
Author: Paul Willcocks
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/rehab.htm (Treatment)

THE GAME PLANS TO TREAT VARIOUS ADDICTIONS ARE OUTDATED FAILURES

VICTORIA -- Is there anybody out there who thinks we're doing a 
better job of dealing with addictions than we were five years ago, or 
10 years ago?

More people are using. The street scene is more open. Drug-associated 
crime is up. Overdose deaths are down and fewer people smoke, but 
it's tough to find any other positive indicators.

Surely that means it's time to do something different. Instead, we're 
fretting about licensing for recovery homes, a debate that seemed to 
have Maple Ridge Mayor Gord Robson about ready to explode.

Unlicensed recovery homes for addicts exist because the Fraser Health 
Authority hasn't been able to deal with the addiction problem, he 
says. The homes "are better than nothing, which is what Fraser Health 
is giving us," Robson told the Maple Ridge Times. "We'd love to have 
the ability, to have the luxury, of culling them, of getting rid of 
the worst of them, but at this stage we need hundreds of more beds."

It's unfair to pick on the Fraser Health Authority. The situation is 
the same across the province. The Vancouver Island Health Authority 
board, according to its minutes, has talked about addictions issues 
once this year, considering a plan to add four youth detox beds in 
the Comox Valley.

None of this is surprising. Imagine you're running a health 
authority, with funding from the province that leaves you unable to 
deliver all the needed services.

A bunch of seniors limp in, clamouring for hip replacements. Parents 
complain about waiting in the ER with their sick children.

And then someone suggests more spending on treatment for addicts who 
might relapse anyway.

It's not even a hard decision. Addiction services -- and mental 
health services -- lose in the competition for health authority 
dollars. The people who need the services are less appealing and less 
skilled at pressing their case.

The health ministry leaves almost all spending decisions up to the 
health authorities. Its own performance plan doesn't include a single 
target for availability of treatment or reduction in the number of 
people struggling with addictions.

So there aren't enough detox or treatment beds and recovery homes to 
fill the gap. People sign over their welfare cheques, about $500 a 
month. They get a place to sleep, meals and support, often from 
people who have been through the same struggles.

But there are abuses. Sherry Mumford, addictions programs manager for 
Fraser Health, told The Vancouver Sun she had heard reports of 
drug-dealing, substandard living conditions and other serious 
problems in Lower Mainland recovery homes.

Which prompted Robson's frustrated response.

There's a surreal quality to all this. Back in 1997, Gordon Campbell 
launched a fierce attack on the New Democratic Party government over 
unlicensed recovery homes. "Why not be sure that they're going to 
facilities where they can be safe and where they at least stand a 
chance of recovering?" he asked.

But in 2002 Campbell's government cut regulation and licensing 
requirements for recovery homes dramatically. (It's now reviewing 
that decision.)

Count it up as nine years of wheel-spinning as things got worse.

So what do we do?

Back in 2000, the Liberals were enthusiastic about the idea of a B.C. 
addictions commission to drive the province's strategy. The B.C. 
Medical Association, the RCMP, the Kaiser Youth Foundation and others 
backed the idea. Colin Hansen pushed the New Democrats to adopt the proposal.

In government, the Liberals lost interest. Addiction services were 
largely lost in the ministry of children and families under the NDP; 
they're largely lost in the health ministry under the Liberals. 
(There is a junior minister for mental health and addiction services. 
But can you identify the minister, or one initiative that he or she 
has championed?)

An addiction commission, with its own budget and broad mandate, would 
help solve the problem. Addictions would no longer fall through the cracks.

The Alberta Alcohol and Drug Abuse Commission has taken the lead on 
the issue for 55 years. It runs prevention programs and offers 
treatment for alcohol, drug and gambling problems. Addictions are its business.

In B.C., addictions are an unpleasant, unrewarding fringe business 
for the health authorities. You can see the result in any city centre 
around the province.

We're failing. And the problems are inevitable given our current approach.

It's time to do something different, and a commission that cared 
about nothing but addiction would be a good start.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom