Pubdate: Wed, 13 Jul 2005
Source: Regina Leader-Post (CN SN)
Copyright: 2005 The Leader-Post Ltd.
Contact:  http://www.canada.com/regina/leaderpost/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/361
Author: Murray Mandryk
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/rehab.htm (Treatment)
Note: Mandryk is political columnist for the Leader-Post

DEALING WITH ADDICTIONS WON'T COME CHEAPLY

After months of being immersed in the province's problems with 
crystal meth and other drug addictions, Saskatoon Sutherland MLA 
Graham Addley has come to one surprising conclusion and a few that 
are perhaps not-so-surprising.

The most surprising conclusion -- particularly coming from someone 
who inhabits the politically charged world of the Saskatchewan 
legislature -- is the backbench NDP MLA's admission that the 
Saskatchewan Party was ahead of the curve when it came to identifying 
the severity of crystal meth.

"I'll give bouquets more than bricks," said Addley, who recently 
completed his 40-page, dozen-recommendation report and handed it to 
Premier Lorne Calvert and his NDP cabinet who are expected to deal 
with it in the coming weeks. "It (crystal meth) came into the rural 
parts (of the province mostly represented by Saskatchewan Party MLAs) 
before the cities.

"To their credit, they (the Saskatchewan Party) raised it in a good 
and meaningful way."

However, the NDP MLA has reached a few other conclusions that come as 
less of a surprise to us by now.

The solutions are far more complex than either the Opposition, 
government or the public might have initially thought. They involve a 
multi-layer approach to treatment for not only crystal meth addicts, 
but those that have multiple drug addictions. And solutions simply 
"won't be found in the bricks and mortar" of building a new treatment 
centre in the province.

"I guess the public has it in its mind that if we add a long-term 
facility we've done something and that if we do something else we'll 
have done nothing," Addley said.

"I'm not pushing to do one thing at a time. If we need to five 
things, we should do all five."

Another not-so-surprising conclusion that Addley says he quickly 
reached was that the solutions won't come cheaply.

Initially asked by Calvert to design the best drug prevention and 
treatment strategy in Canada on the basis of spending $4.7 million 
more annually than the province's current addiction spending of 
around $25 million, Addley said he wasn't far into his work when he 
informed the premier: "This is going to start getting expensive."

"Depending on what we do, it will be an additional $10- to 
$15-million more," Addley said, referring to his recommendations 
that, if adopted by the province sometime later this summer, will 
increase that $25-million drug addiction treatment cost to between 
$35 million and $40 million.

And where would the money come from?

"You make a good case about $60-(US)-a-barrel oil," Addley said. "I'm 
going to be there, too."

What might be a surprise to many is that this pricetag still doesn't 
include a new stand-alone new addiction centre in Saskatchewan that 
the NDP MLA said won't provide the solution to a complex issue.

"It's like having a broken leg -- you shouldn't be in the hospital 
for six months afterwards," he said.

While there may be a need for more detox beds in other facilities -- 
especially for those with multiple drug addictions or those that 
simply need to be removed from abusive situations like prostitution 
- -- Addley said that need is less than people have been led to believe.

In fact, one of the problems he encountered in his work was getting 
past the inaccurate perception that only six per cent of crystal meth 
addicts actually recover from the ill-effects of the drug -- a 
devastating scenario for addicts' families dealing with the violence 
and depression that accompany a crystal meth addiction.

Leading experts in crystal meth addiction have concluded the 
successful treatment rate is about the same as for other similarly 
addictive drugs -- in the 75-per-cent to 80-per-cent range, Addley said.

Nor does he see an increased ability to apprehend crystal meth users 
under 18 years of age -- another solution strongly advocated by the 
Saskatchewan Party during the spring session -- as the ultimate 
solution, either.

Pushing the envelope of the law on the apprehension of youth -- 
something the government starting doing in May at the behest of the 
Opposition -- has worked to some extent, he said. But it doesn't help 
those over 18 years or those without a strong family support network 
where parents are demanding such intervention.

Solutions have to be based on best outcomes, Addley said, and the 
best outcomes show "mandated" treatment (imposed by the laws or 
courts) less effective than "voluntary" treatment or even "coerced" 
treatment (where treatment becomes the more favourable of two 
unfavorable options for addicts).

"I keep thinking of those Inuit children (in Davis Inlet) that were 
sniffing glue,"

Addley said, adding that they thrived while away from their the 
community, but fell back into old habits upon returning to the community.

"The idea is to change the environment -- not the individual."

So what is the better alternative he has proposed?

"We have to make sure the individual has access to what they need as 
long as they need to have it," he explained.

"If that means out-patient care three times a week, two hours a 
treatment with mandatory urine testing, that's what we need to do. 
What I'm envisioning is to bolster outpatient support. They 
(addictions workers) need to be there on weekends. They need to be 
there after hours . . .

"I'm not recommending intensive out-patient treatment because it's 
any cheaper. It's not cheaper."

Addley again used the broken leg analogy: "You can't cure a broken 
leg by putting on a cast for 12 hours, then taking it off, then 
sending you home without crutches."

Not surprising, though, that best solution will come with a hefty pricetag.
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MAP posted-by: Beth