LOCAL AGENCIES JOIN FORCES TO TACKLE SUBSTANCE ABUSE

The Lethbridge area is Alberta's highest for alcohol-related deaths.
Cocaine-related charges here have tripled over the last four years,
police report.

But on the positive side, Lethbridge is also the only community
outside Calgary and Edmonton boasting a full range of alcohol-or
drug-related treatment programs. More are on the way.

And now more than a dozen Lethbridge-area agencies have joined forces
to create a Community Substance Abuse Response Team. The initiative,
announced Wednesday, will see public and non-profit agencies work
together to create a community response to today's challenges and
future developments.

City officials and staff at the Alberta Alcohol and Drug Abuse
Commission began talking about the possibilities of collaboration two
years ago, said meeting chairperson John La Forest.

Now, the 17 partners on the team hope to provide a comprehensive,
proactive and co-ordinated response to substance abuse in Lethbridge
and area.

Speaking for AADAC, Lethbridge manager Susan Canning outlined the
situation as her staff sees it today. Nearly 90 per cent of the
clients here used alcohol -- many of them identifying that as their
biggest problem -- and 73 per cent used tobacco.

But 58 per cent reported using marijuana, 43 per cent were using
cocaine and about eight per cent were using crystal meth. With such
high numbers, she added, it's obvious many clients are using several
substances at the same time.

The growth in cocaine use is illustrated by Lethbridge regional
police statistics, the audience learned. Fewer than 20 drug
trafficking charges laid in 2002 involved cocaine, but that figure
rose to about 100 cases last year.

Over that time, officials report, cocaine has become the most
commonly used street drug in Lethbridge.

La Forest, director of the South Country Treatment Centre, said
effective treatment is just one of the response team's tools.
Education and prevention will be the starting point, backed by harm
reduction programs like clean needles (and safe needle disposal) for
intravenous drug abusers.

Enforcement will be the fourth "pillar" for the response team,
including probation and parole services in addition to police
enforcement and court appearances. For southern Alberta, one of the
newest court-enforced resources is a "safe house" for children who
have left home to "work" the streets.

Another resource, opening next spring, will be a teen detoxification
centre being built in the former young offenders' centre.

Founding members of the new response team include the Blood Tribe
Liaison Program, Chinook Health, Crown prosecutors, Family Centre,
Foothills Detox Centre, Harm Reduction Network, Lethbridge HIV
Connection, Lethbridge regional police, McMan Youth Services, South
Country Treatment Centre, Southwest Alberta Child and Family
Services, TRAC Youth Outreach, University of Lethbridge and Wood's
Homes as well as AADAC and community services officials at the City
of Lethbridge.