Pubdate: Mon, 15 May 2000 Source: Province, The (CN BC) Copyright: 2000 The Province Contact: 200 Granville Street, Ste. #1, Vancouver, BC V6C 3N3 Canada Fax: (604) 605-2323 Website: http://www.vancouverprovince.com/ Page A6 Author: Kathy Tait URGENTLY NEEDED: NEW ANTI-DRUG AGENCY Addiction services are being "smothered and lost" in the children's ministry and need an independent B.C. addictions commission, says a report to be released today. The B.C. Medical Association's addiction committee, the RCMP drug-awareness unit, Kaiser Youth Foundation, and the Alcohol and Drug Education Service are among organizations holding a media conference at UBC to press for a special substance-abuse commission. The report will be released at the opening session of the Pacific Institute on Addiction Studies conference. The report, obtained by The Province, contends that the ministry for children and families' focus on crisis means "vital alcohol, drug and gambling services are...becoming less effective at a time when they are needed most." It comes as increasing numbers of parents of young people addicted to a variety of illicit drugs, including heroin and cocaine, organize to demand action. The report, assembled by the Kaiser Youth Foundation, says drug prevention and treatment services cannot be delivered under the current "broken" system. And it says the experiment of placing addictions professionals under the jurisdiction of the children's ministry has been a failure. "Service providers complain that alcohol and drug services suffer from having a very low priority and profile, no clear provincial strategy, a lack of focus and leadership, inadequate consultation and coordination, inconsistent and unreliable funding, miniscule prevention efforts... The report says a separate independent commission is "essential" and that addiction services should not be returned to the jurisdiction of the health industry. It says B.C. is the drug-abuse province of Canada, leading the nation in death from alcohol-related disorders, in HIV, illicit drug-use deaths and costs of abuse. The direct costs of B.C. illicit drug use for hospitals, police, courts and corrections are estimated at over $95 million a year. Yet the ministry spends only $60 million on prevention and treatment services - less than four per cent of the $1.7 billion the government collects in taxes on alcohol, tobacco and gambling. "With the exception of admitted cigarette smokers, there are more British Columbians engaged in a wider variety of substance use and abuse than ever before," the report says. "We have been unable to respond in a clear, credible and effective way. Our present and potential problem is massive. Our response has been woefully inadequate." The report said the Alberta Alcohol and Drug Abuse Commission estimates that every $1 invested in treatment saves $7 after one year through increased productivity as well as savings in health and justice costs. - --- MAP posted-by: Derek Rea