DRUG LIFE AFTERMATH

When he was a troubled young man in the 1970s, street drugs were his
best friend. They propped him up when life got him down. These days,
Bob Scott's closest ally is the oxygen tank he wheels around with him
all day and has plugged in by his bed all night.

"I have severe emphysema. I am on oxygen 24/7," he said, between
short,raspy breaths. He's lost his health but not his sense of humour.

Looking up from his wheelchair, Scott smiles.

"I've been told I am the second largest user of oxygen in the
province."

This is not a man in self-pity mode.

The Prince George activist is choosing to speak out for the sake of
other former drug addicts who - like him - are part of our aging population.

Scott wonders where they'll go when their bodies finally fail them.
How will society make room for them when seniors' facilities are
already over-filled with relatively healthy seniors?

In recent months, Scott has taken stock of his life. Last week, he was
reflecting on years of hard drug use and the toll it's taken on his
physical health.

Indeed, his former life continues to haunt him, he says, reflected in
his declining health and even threatening to tarnish his golden years.
While he's comfortable in his new surroundings in local seniors' home,
he worries about drug users who are still out there. Those that have a
chance and can choose (as he did) to turn their life around before it
is too late.

"I'm making it and I'm happy," he said. "My real concern is for drug
addicts who are now getting old. They (health care professionals)
can't deal with the people who are coming through our health system as
it is. Then there are the ones with serious drug addictions - that's
another ball game."

Scott is drawn and gaunt. His face is deeply lined and his body is
frail looking. He hates the plastic tube that travels up his nostrils
and has to be inserted whenever he feels short of breath, which is
most of the time. Still, the former heroin addict knows he needs it to
survive.

"I'm lucky to still be here," he said with a wry smile. Others have
not been so lucky.

For a quarter of a century, Scott said he tried to motivate
politicians and the movers and shakers in Prince George to "get a
reality check" on the growing illicit drug trade in our city. "Nobody
listened," he said, his pleas to address the problem falling on deaf
ears.

"They didn't want to listen. Now we have drug-related shootings in
public places in broad daylight. That is a real worry ... and when we
stop worrying, that will be an even bigger problem."

Scott is pleased with news of the Baldy Hughes treatment centre
opening last month. The new facility and its longer term treatment
program is expected over the next few years to help hundreds of people
wanting to be free of drugs.

"That's what has been needed for a long time," said Scott. "It's no
good just getting people in for a month or two of rehab and then
letting them out. Rehabilitation is a long term thing if it is to succeed."

Scott says he's watched the drug problem in Prince George escalate.
Over the years he's been executive director of D.A.R.T. (Drug
Addiction Rehabilitation Team) a group that helps drug and alcohol
addicted people who want to clean up and go sober, to find employment.
Many D.A.R.T. employees have undertaken gardening projects and
landscape improvement jobs around town with great success. Scott takes
some measure of pride that his program "graduates" have become
productive people in society.

"I am proud of that but there are so many more out there," he said,
shaking his head slowly. "What are they going to do? People with drug
addictions have the same problems as others in our aging populations.
Their health may be starting to decline and they worry about who will
look after them in their old age."

Scott was nominated in 2006 for Citizen of the Year for his volunteer
work, his pioneer program with D.A.R.T. and his acts of human kindness
around Prince George. Now he's residing in a seniors' place at least a
decade before he expected to.

Glancing around the dining room at the Prince George Chateau where
many of the residents have canes and walkers, Scott says sadly.

"I'm 20 years younger than most of the people here. I'm 67. Most of
them are in their 80s but I'm looking and acting like an 80-year-old.
That's because I abused my body for all those years with drugs. Even
though I've abstained for 17 years, my body's still paying the price.
My past experience with drugs has put me back."

Scott said poverty and health issues are huge for present and
recovering drug users.

"I'm paying my own way here. I was fortunate that I had an asset that
I could sell my house and afford to live in a seniors' home. Most of
them are not so lucky. They have nothing. They feel they're losing
control as they get older. Right now I need extra care and when the
day comes that I can no longer manage, I don't know what I'll do."

"I can't look after myself and I can't get into extended care because
there are no beds."