METHADONE CLINICS MOVING CLOSER TO THOSE IN NEED

SYDNEY -- Officials behind the region's methadone maintenance program
are trying to bring the service closer to those who need it to battle
their drug addictions.

A central office will remain at the Cape Breton Regional Hospital, but
Addictions Services is in the process of establishing satellite
offices in New Waterford and Glace Bay. Negotiations are also underway
in an effort to open an office in North Sydney.

"What we're hoping is that we will have a methadone office located in
each of these three communities to serve in the clients in their
communities so that they don't have to travel and it would be a much
more user-friendly service," said Barry MacNeil, a manager with
Addictions Services.

They will be able to meet with nurses, counselors and physicians
through those offices, he added. If it's deemed appropriate, they will
be given their prescriptions there and would continue to visit their
community pharmacies to obtain their dose of methadone. New admissions
will continue to be managed at the regional hospital and clients may
occasionally have to visit the central location for some programs.

MacNeil said he hopes the new offices may be open in October.

"We're not 100 per cent finalized on what approach we're going to
use," MacNeil said. "This is an attempt to bring the program to the
people who need it."

Of the more than 100 people in the program, 40 per cent come from both
Glace Bay and North Sydney-Sydney Mines, with 12 per cent from Sydney
and eight per cent from New Waterford.

The program was launched as a pilot in 2004 and became permanent later
that year, as part of the fight against a rise in prescription drug
abuse in the region, particularly the powerful painkiller oxycodone.

When they start the program, patients undergo an assessment, including
a psycho-social assessment, bloodwork, urinalysis, and sometimes
admittance for stabilization.

Originally, in order to better service clients and reduce waiting
lists, the intention was to move the program to Glace Bay. That plan
was scrapped, MacNeil said, in order to better serve clients.

In March, a recovering opiate addict raised concerns about the planned
move to Glace Bay in an interview with the Cape Breton Post, saying
she was worried having to travel the longer distance could serve as a
barrier for other Northside residents who need the program, but don't
have their own transportation.

Earlier this year the waiting list had grown to 150 names, but MacNeil
said that has been reduced.He didn't have an updated figure
immediately available, but said it was being managed "very well."

Each of the community methadone offices will also be home to a day
detox program, which is currently available at the regional hospital.

The methadone maintenance program was developed by the Canadian
Society of Addiction Medicine, a national organization of medical
professionals and scientists interested in substance use disorders,
and is also used by the Ontario College of Physicians and Surgeons.

Since May, 2004, 140 clients have been treated at the methadone
clinic. About 65 per cent of those in the program are men.