PUSH ON FOR ADDICTION BATTLE PLAN

OTTAWA - Cheryl Peever was battling cocaine addiction and depression
when, on the verge of suicide, she went to her family doctor for help.

"She didn't know what to do," Peever recalled in an interview from
Toronto, where she now works for the Centre for Addiction and Mental
Health.

On the cocaine use, Peever said the well meaning but out-of-depth
doctor advised: "Well, just stop."

It took more than six months of phone calls to navigate an addiction
treatment system that's still baffling for many family physicians,
Peever said. She finally got help through Cocaine Anonymous.

That was almost 16 years ago, and Canada still has no national
treatment system to set standards, guide front-line doctors or rank
funding priorities.

Addiction experts have launched a cross-Canada bid to change that.
They will gather specialists, policy wonks and lawmakers to draft a
treatment model by March 2008 that they hope governments will fund.

"Most people with a substance use problem don't get help," said Dr.
Patrick Smith, head of addiction psychiatry at the University of
British Columbia and a key organizer of the national strategy effort.

Many provinces want to invest more in this area but need expert advice
on how best to do it, he said.

The stakes are huge.

A study released last year by the Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse
tallied the public cost of alcohol, tobacco and illicit drug use at
almost $40 billion a year. The whopping price tag includes missed
work, disability and treatment costs.

Conservatives promised during the last election to legally crack down
on traffickers and introduce a national drug strategy. But there was
little mention of prevention, harm reduction or treatment efforts.

A spokesman for Health Minister Tony Clement said Tuesday that work on
the new strategy is well underway.

It "will put greater emphasis on programs that reduce abuse of illegal
drugs and help Canadians live healthier and safer lives," said Erik
Waddell.

Addiction specialists will be watching closely to see whether the Tory
get-tough approach on drugs will be balanced with efforts to reduce
demand.