Pubdate: Fri, 26 Jun 2015
Source: Yukon News (CN YK)
Copyright: 2015 Yukon News
Contact:   http://www.yukon-news.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1125
Author: Ashley Joannou

METHADONE RETURNING TO WHITEHORSE'S JAIL

Methadone is once again going to be offered at the Whitehorse
Correctional Centre.

Three years after inmates started being forced off the drug, justice
officials say they are now equipped to start offering it again.

In March 2012, the department cancelled the program, which started in
2008. That prompted a tongue-lashing from advocates and the president
of the Yukon Medical Association, who called the decision "inhumane."

At the time, the jail didn't have the means to continue the program
safely, spokesperson Caitlin Kerwin said Thursday.

"We had contract nurses, didn't have a nurse manager on site, so
didn't have that kind of infrastructure in place that helps to ensure
the proper operation of a methadone program, which it still is
something that could be deadly if not managed properly."

Now they will, Kerwin said.

In jail, methadone is administered by nurses and managed by doctors.
Both have to have specialized training and certification, Kerwin said.

The jail's physician is getting the training in the fall and that's
the last step before the program can be fully up and running.

At the time the program was yanked, the jail was using contract nurses
as opposed to permanent staff. The amount of turnover made training
nurses difficult, she said.

The jail has stopped using contract nurses over the last
year.

According to Patricia Bacon, executive director of Blood Ties Four
Directions, Yukon was the only jurisdiction in the country where
methadone wasn't an option for inmates. That includes both jails and
federal prisons.

"The fact that they've turned the policy around is a humane response,
it is the right response and it is about time," she said.

Methadone is typically used to treat people who are addicted to
opiates like heroin and morphine.

It is a liquid that is drunk. It doesn't get someone high but can
satisfy that part of the brain that is craving drugs, Bacon said.

"What it allows the person to do is to get on with the rest of their
life. It allows them to be able to go to work every day, have a job,
not worry about how they're going to feed a $100 to $200 a day illicit
drug habit."

People spend less time in the justice system because they are not out
committing crimes as a way of getting money, she said.

The risk of things like HIV or hepatitis C is also greatly reduced
because people are taken off of injection drugs.

"We're talking about long-term health outcomes for Canadians," Bacon
said.

The issue of methadone in the jail came up in court this
week.

Yukoner Mike Bland is facing drug charges in territorial court
including possession of cocaine and ecstasy for the purpose of
trafficking.

The Yukon Human Rights Commission was concerned that if Bland is
convicted and sent to jail he would not be able to continue his
methadone program.

Julie Jai, the acting director of the commission, said she's glad the
government has reinstated the methadone program.

The lack of a program at the jail is a human rights issue, she said.
"Somebody who is on heart medication and got sent to WCC wouldn't have
that prescription suddenly yanked because they were in jail," Jai said.

"So to have that done because this particular physical disability is
an addiction appears on its face to be discriminatory treatment."

In Bland's case, the WCC has agreed to work with his local doctor if
necessary until the jail's doctor is trained.

Under the jail's new program the doctor will not be giving out new
prescriptions for methadone, but will be available to help people who
already have a prescription and receive the doctor's approval.

According to Health Canada's best practices, keeping patients on the
drug should be the goal of treatment.

"Rather than emphasizing abstinence from all drugs - including
eventual tapering from methadone - as the primary goal of treatment,
methadone maintenance programs should focus instead on maintaining
clients/patients on methadone for as long as they continue to benefit
from treatment."

In the last five years, an average of 1.5 inmates a year have come to
the Whitehorse jail with a prescription for methadone.

Across the territory, 77 people were on it last year, according to the
Health Department.

During the years where there wasn't a methadone program at the jail
inmates were forced to detox.

The detox involves taking patients through withdrawal under medical
supervision. Some drugs can be administered to ease the symptoms,
according to the department.

"It's not like switching from one high blood pressure medication to
another. It is withdrawing from the drug that your body has gotten
used to. So it is a cold turkey approach," Jai said.

Amidst criticism, the department and then-justice minister Mike Nixon
leaned on many explanations for cancelling the program. Nixon said the
detox program was working.

Staffing issues were always mentioned, but so was the concern that the
drug could be used as "currency" inside the jail and that inmates were
using the methadone while taking other drugs.

"In short, the inmates in the jail, as a rule, are not compliant
individuals in adhering to the MMT (methadone maintenance treatment)
program and therefore from a risk perspective are not suitable for
continuing in a methadone program," Justice spokesperson Dan Cable
said in 2013.

Kerwin said she couldn't comment on whether the department has changed
its mind about those concerns.

The current justice minister, Brad Cathers, declined to speak on the
subject.
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MAP posted-by: Matt