METH USE UP, BUT ONLY FEW GO FOR HELP

Hundreds Of Street Youth Fail To Take Advantage Of Available Treatment
Spaces

The lone crystal methamphetamineaddiction recovery centre in Vancouver
is just over half full, but more street youth are using crystal meth
than ever.

The Vancouver Addictions Matrix Program, the only meth-specific
treatment centre in the city, has 12 spaces dedicated to youth, but
there are only seven currently filled, said clinical supervisor Anita
Hutchings.

"We were developed specifically for crystal meth, and it was partly to
deal with this dramatic increase in use of crystal meth among youth,"
Hutchings said. "We're not turning anyone away right now."

According to a report from B.C. Centre for Excellence in HIV/ AIDS,
about 75 per cent of the 478 street kids who were interviewed admitted
to using the drug. This percentage is three times greater than the
last study, which was completed in 2003 and showed 25 per cent of
street kids used the drug.

The VAMP centre, which is located downtown on the third floor of the
Three Bridges community health center, still needs a larger,
permanent, street-level facility to expand treatment, said Hutchings.

"Our program is not well known yet because we're not in a permanent
space, so we haven't been able to get out a lot of promotional
material yet," she said.

The provincial Ministry of Health promised to boost youth-dedicated
addiction treatment beds to 158 in 2007. That province-wide number,
however, stands at 51-less than a third of the promised
amount-according to ministry spokesperson Sarah Plank.

The Ministry of Health dished out $2 million last year, on top of the
normal $6 million, to increase youth-specific bed capacity and create
treatment programs specific to crystal meth.

With the rise in crystal meth use, Vancouver Coastal Health, a
government-funded organizaion that runs the public hospitals and
clinics across B.C., doesn't know why so few street youth aren't
enrolling in treatment programs.

"I don't know why there aren't more kids who want it," said VCH
spokesperson Viviana Zanocco. "Kids have to want to get treatment just
like adults."

"I think we have outreach workers who connect with the youth," she
said about future plans to help the street youth programs.

Nearly all of the prevention and awareness campaigns are focused on
high school students using classroom presentations, media campaigns,
but that's not the current problem facing decision-makers

"High school kids aren't the ones using crystal meth. Street kids are.
So it says to me that we need to re-look at where our prevention
efforts are going," said Don MacPherson, drug policy coordinator in
Vancouver.

"Part of the reason people do crystal meth is that it helps them get
through the night. There are benefits to doing it-staying awake is one
of them, not eating is another one. So, housing and shelter is
critical [to preventing the problem]," he said.