Pubdate: Fri, 19 Oct 2001
Source: Kitchener-Waterloo Record (CN ON)
Copyright: 2001 Kitchener-Waterloo Record
Contact:  http://www.therecord.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/225
Author: Brian Caldwell
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?136 (Methadone)

METHADONE CLINIC NEEDS MORE STAFF

KITCHENER -- The doctor behind a controversial methadone clinic in 
Kitchener-Waterloo asked for help yesterday to treat a growing number 
of people addicted to heroin and prescription opiates.

Dr. Jeff Daiter told a conference of about 50 health and social work 
professionals in Kitchener that he has faced resistance and criticism 
since opening the private clinic in November.

But with his current caseload of 130 patients expected to almost 
double in the next year, he said, there is a clear need for a 
comprehensive program to provide addicts with the synthetic 
substitute for heroin, plus supports such as counselling.

"We really shouldn't be judging people who have this disease,'' said 
Daiter, who also runs five methadone clinics in the Toronto area and 
plans to open four more. "We should be giving them a chance to 
rehabilitate themselves.''

Then located in a Waterloo strip plaza, the local clinic frightened 
many of its neighbours in July when police swooped in to hog-tie a 
young client who was carrying a gun and a machete to protect himself 
from dealers looking to settle a drug debt.

Soon after that incident, police said they suspected several young 
people had died of overdoses after taking methadone that might have 
been prescribed at one of two local clinics -- the other is a 
smaller, longtime practice run by Dr. Ralph Stemeroff -- and then 
sold on the street.

Daiter said concerns and complaints forced him to move the clinic to 
a new location on Park Street near the Grand River Hospital in 
Kitchener.

But he defended his harm-reduction approach, which treats addiction 
as a disease and allows patients to determine what kind of help they 
need, as an effective, cost-efficient solution to a serious social 
problem.

"I encounter negative attitudes to methadone everywhere I go,'' said Daiter.

"Anything new is a little bit scary.''

Jacqueline Russell, a consultant hired to determine the need for a 
full-scale program in Waterloo Region, said the conference was 
organized to dispel misconceptions and educate local professionals on 
the benefits of methadone.

A local committee has been pushing the issue and hopes to get 
government funding to add more counselling and other support services 
to existing clinics.

The number of people on methadone in Ontario has increased to more 
than 6,000 from fewer than 1,000 in 1995 and the Ontario Substance 
Abuse Bureau, an arm of the Ministry of Health, advocates continued 
expansion.

A report by the bureau estimates addicts rack up $44,000 a year in 
health and social costs, including crimes to support their habits and 
police time needed to investigate them. With about 15,000 opiate 
addicts in the province, that works out to an annual loss of $660 
million.

At about $6,000 per patient, it would cost $90 million to treat those 
same addicts with methadone, which eliminates cravings without 
producing a high and allows people to put their lives back together.

"We have people on methadone who drive transport trucks,'' said 
Daiter. "You could probably easily fly a plane.''

Of the 130 patients at his K-W clinic, 42 are addicted to heroin and 
88 abuse prescription narcotics such as percocet and dilaudid.

Clients range in age from 18 to 54 and men outnumber women almost two-to-one.
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