Pubdate: Wed, 14 Sep 2005
Source: Daily Courier, The (CN BC)
Copyright: 2005 The Okanagan Valley Group of Newspapers
Contact:  http://www.kelownadailycourier.ca
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/531
Author: Paul Willcocks

GOVERNMENT WAR ON METH FAKE

Your teeth are totting, your face is a mess of sores.  Your body hurts, 
your money is gone and so are your friends family.

You figure you better get off crystal meth.

That should be a victory in the war on drugs.  One less person buying 
drugs, getting sick, ending up in jail.

Except that when addicts go looking for help, it's not there.

Here in Victoria there is not a single detox bed for adult meth 
addicts.  The Vancouver Island Health Authority only has one adult detox 
centre in the Victoria area, with seven beds - far short of what's needed.

The centre no longer takes people trying to quit meth of cocaine. Given the 
few beds, health authority says, the centre will only take people 
withdrawing from alcohol or heroin.  They face more serious physical risks 
from detox.  The waiting list is still long, and potentially deadly.

It's not just a Vancouver Island phenomenon.  In communities across the 
province addicts are going looking for help, and finding detox and 
treatment aren't available.  Counsellors have to decide who is in so much 
danger that they should wheedle and push to squeeze them into a treatment 
program, and who can take their chances on the streets for another couple 
of months.

Remember that the next time some politician starts talking about how 
important it is to fight the scourge of crystal meth.

If they were serious about dealing with meth addiction - and if they 
thought we were serious - then treatment would be available.

The health authority here suggests people on meth can detox at home.

But meth withdrawal is a nightmare for most addicts.  They face depression, 
paranoia, anger and thoughts of suicide, and suffer from massive cravings 
for the drug.  Their chances of success fall sharply without support.

Out-patient detox might work for some addicts, if they have housing, and 
support from family or friends.

But for the many addicts living in shelters, or on the street or in a 
run-down rooming house with other people using drugs, the idea that they 
can detox on their own is ludicrous.

Just as it is ludicrous to expect people trying to get off drugs to wait 
weeks or months for treatment.  Every day they wait, they are in danger of 
losing their resolve, and falling back into their addictions (or dying).

Talk to the people on the front lines, the health care professionals and 
counsellors and parents, and they'll tell you the shortage of detox and 
treatment programs is one of the most serious problems in fighting meth.

But the provincial government's latest report on its ant-meth effort makes 
no mention of addressing the shortage of spaces.  The health authorities 
reflect the government's priorities.

Instead the politicians and talk shows are going on about tougher sentences 
for meth manufacturers and dealers, and better controls on the ingredients 
needed to make the drugs.

Those measures will make a difference.  Prices may rise, deterring some 
users.  Criminals may decide to deal in a different drug, hopefully a less 
dangerous one.

But the fight against meth, or any other drug, isn't going to be won by 
eliminating the supply.  We have shown over the last 70 years - since 
Prohibition - that if enough demand exists, suppliers will emerge.  A 
fortune spent on enforcement efforts against heroin suppliers over the last 
15 years hasn't reduced the availability of the drug.

The best chance of success lies in tackling the demand side.

Education is important, and included in the province's meth plan People can 
be given the information to help them make smart choices.

So is support once people have become addicts.  Measures to reduce the 
damage done - like safe injection sites - keep people alive, healthy, and 
out of crime while they are using.

And so is treatment.

We can talk all we like about fighting crystal meth.  If we aren't prepared 
to provide anything close to adequate treatment for desperate addicts, it's 
just so many empty words.

Footnote: Vancouver Island Health Authority is failing younger 
addicts.  The five youth detox beds, once full, are now under-used because 
the authority decided to enforce a strict smoking ban.

Kids can't contemplate kicking meth and cigarettes, so they are staying 
away entirely or leaving treatment early.  The foolish policy deters kids 
from getting off drugs.
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MAP posted-by: Elizabeth Wehrman