VIHA CHIPS AWAY AT DRUG CYCLE

Alan Campbell Knows The Enormity Of Victoria's Addiction Problems.

But as with all things, change takes time and money, said the
director of Vancouver Island Health Authority's mental health and
addition services.

Some steps forward have taken place since the city unveiled its
Mayor's Task Force Report on Homelessness in October 2007. More
outreach teams hit the streets and in-house detoxification care is
now available, Campbell said.

But Victoria has lost a fixed needle exchange to be replaced by
mobile exchange for at least a year. The city also only has seven
critical detox beds which deal with people addicted to opiates,
heroin, and alcohol - all of which have medical side effects from quitting.

"Because there are so few beds and we have many, many people waiting
for them we prioritize to ensure that those people who are at greater
risk and actually need medical supervision are the ones that get in
there," Campbell said.

But that is if they stick around. The wait-list continually has
between 30 to 40 people on it - a time period of about a month.

"It is a long time, it is too long. In order to really get benefit
from detox (we) should really have it available in a short time. That
takes advantage of their motivation," Campbell said.

VIHA is working toward having 21 beds by December, but wants to have
other programs in place to support addicts after the initial detox.
The hope is to have 17 stabilization beds for people once they have
gone through the first process.

"The detox, the initial piece, in a way is the easiest part,"
Campbell said. "It is hard but it is the beginning of a whole process
of recovery that is going to last the length of the person's life."

VIHA has $1.9 million to get those resources in place. B.C. Housing,
rental properties and the city are pulling together to provide stable
housing for recovering addicts, Campbell said.

Since the task force came together, 211 new units have been created.
A third of those are designated for VIHA's hard to house - patients
with addiction and mental health issues.

"We are trying to make our little resources stretch as far as we can
by having other services," Campbell said.

Also trying to make do with what they have is the Victoria police
department. As drugs become more prevalent, petty crime to feed
addictions rises. In turn police have less resource, time and money
to go after the big dealers whom are making drugs on Island or
transporting them here. It's a catch-22 with no end in sight, said
Sgt. Grant Hamilton, a police department spokesman.

"We don't have enough resource, so we do the best we can," he said.

Going after the big fish takes a lot of coordination between
departments and even if head honchos are booked, their case may take
a couple of years before entering court. On top of that, sentencing
varies radically from judge to judge, Grant said.