Pubdate: Sat, 24 Jan 2015
Source: StarPhoenix, The (CN SN)
Copyright: 2015 The StarPhoenix
Contact: http://www.canada.com/saskatoonstarphoenix/letters.html
Website: http://www.canada.com/saskatoonstarphoenix/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/400
Author: Charles Hamilton
Page: A1

SASK.'NEEDS A HUGE WAKE-UP'

Mother of Addicted Son Struggles to Find Help

Brenda Stephens has witnessed a terrible transformation in her son. 
She says the system designed to offer him support has utterly failed.

Shane was always a good kid who never had serious issues with 
drinking or drugs, Stephens says. He volunteered at his local church 
and helped feed the homeless.

Now, a few short years after he was diagnosed with depression, Shane 
is homeless and addicted to crystal meth.

"It's torn our family apart and they won't help," his mom said in a 
recent interview, fighting through waves of tears. "It tore him 
apart." Since his addiction to the potent street drug began more than 
a year ago, she has worried constantly that he will end up dead or in 
prison, she said, adding that he has spent the last eight months 
living on the street.

Stephens said her son's addiction started with a visit to the 
doctor's office. Shane was diagnosed with depression and was put on a 
cocktail of medications, including anti-anxiety pills, 
anti-depressants and mood stabilizers. She said Shane's doctors were 
handing out the pills "like candy" and it was only a matter of time 
before he turned to the street and methamphetamines to get his fix.

Now Stephens says the health-care system that helped propel her son 
toward addiction has done little to help him get out of the vicious 
cycle. "I think Saskatchewan needs a huge wake-up," she said.

Shane enrolled himself in detox programs, spending time at Larson 
House and the Dube Centre. More than once he showed up at the 
emergency room, asking for some sort of help. At times, he was 
suicidal, Stephens said.

He always ended up back on the street; she would drive around at all 
hours of the night searching for him.

Stephens said no one has offered a long-term support plan for her 
son, so he ends up back at the places that got him into trouble in 
the first place.

"Right back down to drug alley. (They) send someone who is struggling 
with addictions back to the addictions. And they keep doing it," she said.

To help fight his meth addiction, Shane likely needs in-patient 
treatment with a structured plan and access to psychologists. The 
provincial government provides funding for treatment beds around the 
province, including the Calder Centre in Saskatoon, but wait times 
can be a serious barrier.

Provincial officials say it takes an average of two to four weeks to 
get into a residential treatment program.

Rand Teed, a drug rehab consultant, said the wait can be much longer.

"It's often anywhere from a month to a six-week wait to get into 
publicly funded treatment in Saskatchewan," Teed said. "Expecting 
someone to stay sober for six weeks on their own while they wait for 
a bed is not a rational position."

Teed said the provincial government is doing a good job providing 
publicly funded care, but many family members don't want to wait for 
a funded bed. That's why he sees so many people paying huge amounts - 
sometimes up to $14,000 a month - for private treatment clinics in 
British Columbia or the U.S. Saskatchewan has only one privately run 
clinic. Stephens says she can't afford it.

Tracy Muggli, director of mental health and addiction services for 
the Saskatoon Health Region, could not comment on Shane's individual 
situation for privacy reasons, but said the health region is actively 
working to reduce wait times. Most people are not forced to go 
elsewhere, she said.

"We manage to treat most people who seek out services here successfully."

Colleen Dell, a professor of sociology and public health and research 
chair in substance abuse at the University of Saskatchewan, said 
Saskatchewan stacks up pretty well compared to other provinces when 
it comes to treating addicted or mentally ill people. Of course, that 
doesn't mean the system is free of gaps and problems with people 
becoming addicted to prescription drugs.

"You look at the economic cost of substance abuse ... we are looking 
at a billion dollars a year in Saskatchewan," Dell said.

"We are having a higher cost per person for addictions than we are 
for cardiac arrest, but who recognizes that?"

Dell said she is excited to see the results of a new provincial 
mental health and addictions strategy announced by the province last month.

She admits, however, that the new strategy is unlikely to help 
Stephens and her son.

Stephens is now trying to raise money online to help get her son into 
a treatment centre outside the province. She says a longer term 
facility is likely the only way to make sure Shane doesn't end up 
back on the street.

"I have to keep fighting. I don't have a choice. If I give up, he's 
got nothing left."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom