THE GAME PLANS TO TREAT VARIOUS ADDICTIONS ARE OUTDATED FAILURES

VICTORIA -- Is there anybody out there who thinks we're doing a
better job of dealing with addictions than we were five years ago, or
10 years ago?

More people are using. The street scene is more open. Drug-associated
crime is up. Overdose deaths are down and fewer people smoke, but
it's tough to find any other positive indicators.

Surely that means it's time to do something different. Instead, we're
fretting about licensing for recovery homes, a debate that seemed to
have Maple Ridge Mayor Gord Robson about ready to explode.

Unlicensed recovery homes for addicts exist because the Fraser Health
Authority hasn't been able to deal with the addiction problem, he
says. The homes "are better than nothing, which is what Fraser Health
is giving us," Robson told the Maple Ridge Times. "We'd love to have
the ability, to have the luxury, of culling them, of getting rid of
the worst of them, but at this stage we need hundreds of more beds."

It's unfair to pick on the Fraser Health Authority. The situation is
the same across the province. The Vancouver Island Health Authority
board, according to its minutes, has talked about addictions issues
once this year, considering a plan to add four youth detox beds in
the Comox Valley.

None of this is surprising. Imagine you're running a health
authority, with funding from the province that leaves you unable to
deliver all the needed services.

A bunch of seniors limp in, clamouring for hip replacements. Parents
complain about waiting in the ER with their sick children.

And then someone suggests more spending on treatment for addicts who
might relapse anyway.

It's not even a hard decision. Addiction services -- and mental
health services -- lose in the competition for health authority
dollars. The people who need the services are less appealing and less
skilled at pressing their case.

The health ministry leaves almost all spending decisions up to the
health authorities. Its own performance plan doesn't include a single
target for availability of treatment or reduction in the number of
people struggling with addictions.

So there aren't enough detox or treatment beds and recovery homes to
fill the gap. People sign over their welfare cheques, about $500 a
month. They get a place to sleep, meals and support, often from
people who have been through the same struggles.

But there are abuses. Sherry Mumford, addictions programs manager for
Fraser Health, told The Vancouver Sun she had heard reports of
drug-dealing, substandard living conditions and other serious
problems in Lower Mainland recovery homes.

Which prompted Robson's frustrated response.

There's a surreal quality to all this. Back in 1997, Gordon Campbell
launched a fierce attack on the New Democratic Party government over
unlicensed recovery homes. "Why not be sure that they're going to
facilities where they can be safe and where they at least stand a
chance of recovering?" he asked.

But in 2002 Campbell's government cut regulation and licensing
requirements for recovery homes dramatically. (It's now reviewing
that decision.)

Count it up as nine years of wheel-spinning as things got worse.

So what do we do?

Back in 2000, the Liberals were enthusiastic about the idea of a B.C.
addictions commission to drive the province's strategy. The B.C.
Medical Association, the RCMP, the Kaiser Youth Foundation and others
backed the idea. Colin Hansen pushed the New Democrats to adopt the proposal.

In government, the Liberals lost interest. Addiction services were
largely lost in the ministry of children and families under the NDP;
they're largely lost in the health ministry under the Liberals.
(There is a junior minister for mental health and addiction services.
But can you identify the minister, or one initiative that he or she
has championed?)

An addiction commission, with its own budget and broad mandate, would
help solve the problem. Addictions would no longer fall through the cracks.

The Alberta Alcohol and Drug Abuse Commission has taken the lead on
the issue for 55 years. It runs prevention programs and offers
treatment for alcohol, drug and gambling problems. Addictions are its business.

In B.C., addictions are an unpleasant, unrewarding fringe business
for the health authorities. You can see the result in any city centre
around the province.

We're failing. And the problems are inevitable given our current approach.

It's time to do something different, and a commission that cared
about nothing but addiction would be a good start.