Pubdate: Fri, 26 May 2006
Source: Peace Arch News (CN BC)
Copyright: 2006 Peace Arch News
Contact:  http://www.peacearchnews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1333
Author: Kevin Diakiw

TREATMENT SURREY DRUG CENTRE PLANNED

Surrey will be home to a medium-to large-scale  treatment centre, if
a current proposal goes ahead as  planned, Mayor Dianne Watts says.

An unnamed Surrey philanthropist is proposing the  facility, which
will be subject to extensive community  consultation in the coming
months.

The philanthropist, who has another facility in the  United States,
already owns the land and is keen to get  the treatment centre started
in Surrey.

Details of the facility are being kept tightly under  wraps until the
plan is formalized, likely closer to  the year's end.

"More information will be given to council and general  public as the
preliminary plans become more  solidified," Watts said.

"It's very exciting stuff, and it's a key piece of the  overall
strategy."

The crime prevention strategy, currently being drafted,  will be
presented to council this fall.

It will be based on a four-pillar approach, which  differs from
Vancouver's model in that it won't include  safe injection sites or
free heroin, Watts said.

Key elements in the strategy will be treatment,  prevention, education
and enforcement.

Treatment, she says, will be a cornerstone of the  model. For a drug
strategy to work, addicts must have a  ready and accessible way to get
off drugs.

White Rock's Kerry Jackson, whose son Ryan committed  suicide after
leaving treatment for crystal meth  addiction in Vancouver's St.
Paul's Hospital, said  location of a treatment centre is key.

She's hopeful the proposed treatment centre in Surrey  works, but says
addicts treated in highly populated  areas often drop out.

"I'm not so sure having it in Surrey is the best  location...I've
heard it said many times by addicts  that it is best to be away from
it all."

Jackson says treatment centres in the United States  that are
successful are all in secluded areas. And she  is currently trying to
line up funding for a treatment  centre of her own, in B.C.'s Interior.

While not knowing the details of the treatment,  prevention and
education pillars for Surrey's proposed  centre, Jackson said the
traditional approach is not  enough. She calls for a more holistic
treatment model.

"Getting addicts clean is not enough, they will be in  and out of
treatment like yo-yos," Jackson said.

"They need psycho-therapy, cognitive therapy, grief  therapy and
working on past traumas."

"We need to do more, we go from generation to  generation doing damage
control."

On the enforcement pillar, Watts said focus will be  shifted toward a
"supply-side" approach, where dealers  and drug manufacturers will be
targeted.

"The targeting needs to occur at the level of organized  crime and
drug traffickers," Watts said.

"That's to shut off supply."

She also said a key part of the strategy will be the  need for a
community court, which is similar to a drug  court, but also involves
youth, and community-based  issues that don't require the use of B.C.
Supreme  Court.
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MAP posted-by: Derek