HOPE FOR GIRLS WITH ADDICTION ISSUES

Terri Padavell is not surprised at the number of local youth who end up
addicted to drugs.

"Drugs are easier to get than alcohol for people under age 19," says
Padavell, director of addiction services at the Lower Mainland Purpose
Society for Youth and Families. "They're easy to access, they're in our
schools, they're everywhere."

And not only are they readily available, designer drugs such as Ecstasy and
crystal methamphetamine provide a cheap and lasting high.

"Addiction does not discriminate," she said, noting addicts come from all
ethnic and socio-economic backgrounds.

At the same time, there is a shortage of addictions treatment facilities,
particularly for youth and most especially for teenaged girls suffering
from addictions.

In response, the New Westminster-based Purpose Society has established a
new five-bed residential treatment centre in Burnaby specifically aimed at
girls aged 14 to 18.

The Cedars - named for the grounded, rooted, growing cedar trees in front
of the facility - doesn't come cheap. Unlike most other treatment
facilities, it doesn't receive any government funding. As a result, without
such a subsidy, clients pay $200 a day for the three-month, live-in
program. Padavell stressed Purpose Society "will try to work with people"
regarding financing.

The Cedars is staffed 24 hours a day and uses a holistic approach to
dealing with addictions, including group and individual counselling,
support for family, teaching of life skills, promotion of health and
fitness and community service activities. They'll also have access to
Purpose's alternative high school "when they're ready."

The key to successful treatment and to preventing the cycle from recurring
is to address those issues and behaviours that the addicts are using drugs
or alcohol to mask, Padavell said. For instance, it's "quite common" for
girls with eating disorders to try drugs in an attempt to lose weight. Drug
use can also stem from abuse issues or depression.

The importance of dealing with the root causes of addiction became clear
for Erin during treatment for her drug and alcohol abuse. "It's all
feelings," said the 19-year-old, who asked that her last name not be used.
"I'd get loaded because I'd feel sad. I didn't cope with life."

Erin says she started using heroin, crack cocaine and alcohol when she was
11 or 12, through people she knew at school. "It was easy to get and I grew
up in an environment where drugs were always around."

By age 15, "everything was falling apart, I was fighting with my dad,
running away ... I was just tired." That's when she decided she needed to
go clean. She had been in and out of school, and it was through talking to
teachers at one school that she was able to get into detox. Now 19, Erin
has been clean for nine months.

Drug addiction is too difficult to beat on a person's own, especially for
young people, she said. "I never actually got clean until I was in a safe
place."

* For more information on The Cedars addiction treatment program, call
604-526-2522.