Pubdate: Wed, 12 Nov 2003
Source: Meridian Booster (CN AB)
Copyright: 2003, The Lloydminster Meridian Booster
Contact:  http://www.meridianbooster.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1590
Author: Ian Ross

ABORIGINAL ADDICTS SHUFFLED IN FEDERAL PLAN

Aboriginal drug addicts living off-reserve in Alberta are going to have a 
tough time getting sober, because the federal government wants to send them 
back to remote reserves to seek help.

Lloydminster Meridian Booster - Aboriginal drug addicts living off-reserve 
in Alberta are going to have a tough time getting sober, because the 
federal government wants to send them back to remote reserves to seek help.

The controversial move, which Health Canada officials say is "strengthening 
the referral system," means aboriginals will have to go through an 
interview process to determine where they should go for treatment. In 
laymen's terms, it means addicts go where the government tells them to if 
they want help. The federal government will no longer pay Alberta's seven 
provincial centres to treat aboriginal addicts. It also means - in Edmonton 
for example - that addicts who could get to the Poundmaker Lodge Treatment 
Centre, on the edge of the city in 20 minutes could be forced to go to 
reserves hundreds of kilometres away. To boot, Poundmaker's clients are 90 
per cent aboriginal, so the $15 per day per client from Health Canada is a 
large part of their income. That cut could damage the services that 
treatment centres provide.

Craig Featherstone, executive director of the Slim Thorpe Recovery Centre 
in Lloydminster, said the move is unfair to addicts.

"They (the feds) only give us about $15 per day under the NNADAP (National 
Native Alcohol and Drug Abuse Program)," he said. "It's a small amount in 
any event, but the issue is pretty controversial. We aren't turning people 
away though."

According to Featherstone, Health Canada will still pay to treat native 
addicts on a federally-funded bed, but only if they go to a centre on a 
reserve.

"It's really unfair, and there are groups that aren't done lobbying yet," 
he said. "We've come to the point where people will come to our program to 
detox, NNADAP will say 'no, go to another centre,' and we say to the client 
'don't worry about it, stay and let us figure it out.' It seems like they 
changed the system for no reason."

However, Health Canada officials believe the program will be beneficial to 
native addicts, and said they are going to continue to fund provincial centres.

"If a native person is looking for treatment, they have to go through our 
referral process first, and we'll decide which facility is best for them," 
said Tamara Magnan, Health Canada's regional communications director in 
Edmonton. "Each case is different, so we look at the individuality of each 
one of those cases. We look at the type of addiction to determine which 
facility is best for them. It's a very simple process."

Magnan said counselling is a basic step in treating anyone who is addicted 
to drugs or alcohol. She said most people seeking help do not arbitrarily 
decide to get help.

"Part of the process is to add counselling to the initial assessment," she 
said. "Addictions are mental, so convincing someone to get help is not simple."

Magnan also said there are 16 beds available across Alberta, but in fact 
many centres have lengthy waiting lists.

More than half of Alberta's aboriginal population does not live on a reserve.
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MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman