YOUNG ADDICTS WAIT MONTHS FOR HELP

Number seeking treatment up 50% between 1994-99

More young addicts and alcoholics in Toronto want help to overcome
their problems but they're not getting it, researchers have found.

According to a report released yesterday, the number of young people
who requested treatment for drug abuse rose almost 50 per cent between
1994 and 1999.

Between 1998 and 1999 alone, 491 people under 25 requested treatment.
That's up 30 per cent from the previous year. By contrast, the total
number of treatment requests from the general population rose less
than one per cent.

Yet during 1998-99, the waiting times for youth wanting addiction
treatment was between four and five months.

There are five publicly funded outpatient programs for young people in
Toronto and only one residential youth program in Ontario, located in
Thunder Bay.

Other problems complicate young people's addiction. Between April and
October of 1999, 49 per cent of those under 25 receiving treatment
were also involved in some way with the legal system and one out of
six had been previously diagnosed with at least one mental disorder.

The annual report - Drug Use in Toronto: A Changing Landscape - includes a
10-year retrospective on trends and statistics compiled by various
researchers, including members of the Centre for Addiction and Mental
Health and Toronto Public Health.

Dennis Long, executive director of Breakaway, a Dundas St. W.
outpatient youth treatment centre, isn't surprised by the report's
findings.

"We've been seeing the increase for the past four years," Long
said.

But that increase in demand for services hasn't prompted an increase
in funding, he said. Since 1992, Breakaway has had a $1.5 million
annual operating budget, and all requests for increased provincial
funding have been turned down.

Among youth studied, most cited cannabis, alcohol, cocaine and heroin
as their drug of choice. Cannabis, cocaine, speed and glue/solvent use
are all at the highest level since monitoring of Toronto students began.