IS A FIX FOR METH ON ITS WAY?

Colleen Klein's Cure Could Be A Political Hot Potato

The legislature will resume August 24, and Premier Klein has spending
on his mind. What remains to be seen is if any of Alberta's surging
oil and gas dollars will be directed to recommendations from his wife
Colleen's task force on crystal meth.

The task force report due this fall could spark a fight in
government. Task force member and AUPE union president Dan MacLennan
says the recommendations could easily carry a price tag upwards of
$10 million. He also hinted that new methamphetamine addictions
treatment spaces would be on the list of to-do items.

"Addictions need a lot of support, and this one, from what I've heard
from experts and families, seems to need continuous care for a longer
period. 12 to 18 months could be normal," MacLennan says.

Year-and-a-half long programs are a far cry from the three-month
treatments currently available. But AADAC, which is also part of the
task force, has already assumed the stance that the meth problem is in hand.

The agency has already responded to criticisms from parents and
addicts alike by adding youth-specific treatment beds and a treatment
protocol specific to crystal meth users. Province-wide, AADAC now has
28 beds available to youth enrolled in the residential treatment
program. Edmonton has eight treatment beds and five more will be added in 2007.

Director of AADAC youth services Mark Miyamoto says wait times aren't
a major issue. According to Miyamoto, the longest wait for a
residential treatment bed is 12 weeks and AADAC has other programs
available in the interim. There are no treatment beds specifically
for meth addicts, he explains, because most youth seeking treatment
from AADAC are not addicted to methamphetamine.

"Across the board, alcohol and cannabis are the drugs of choice for
young people," Miyamoto says.

iHuman Youth Society outreach worker Wallis Kendall says Miyamoto is
probably right that AADAC doesn't see a lot of meth-addicted youth.
But, the veteran street youth worker added, that's because most
meth-addicted youth don't go to AADAC for help.

"What AADAC is seeing is the tip of the iceberg... The kids aren't
talking to them. AADAC isn't working on the streets," he says.

Kendall says he has tried to get meth-addicted street kids into
AADAC, and usually can't. It's not AADAC's fault-the kids lives are
just too erratic and their addictions too severe for AADAC's
programs. Many live in group homes or on the street, without family support.

Part of the problem is the kid's dependencies are so severe that they
can't stay clean enough to earn admission to long-term government
treatment facilities. AADAC isn't the only agency with such a
prerequisite. Kendall says a provincial facility in Ponoka recently
turned away a young woman seeking joint pyschological-addictions
treatment because she took drugs before being admitted.

Kendall's observational knowledge of meth treatment matches those of
the experts consulted by the task force (iHuman was not part of the
consultation): a three-week treatment program like AADAC's is not
enough, and "after-care" is essential, he says.

"How do I get food and clothes, and shelter? Am I expected to go
right into school? How do I get tutoring help? What support do I get
when I get out of treatment?... Kids often go back to selling drugs
to support themselves-they've done it for four or five years and
that's all they know," he warns.

MacLennan says the diversity of the task force ensures that AADAC's
perspective isn't the only one that will be heard. And he adds that
there have been consultations with other agencies that work with street youth.

"I think you can expect some cutting edge recommendations," MacLennan
promises. And not all are related to drug treatment-expect to see
money for community initiatives and more cops recommended.

The only question remaining is if any of the recommendations will
survive the division inherent to a government slogging through its
final days before a leadership contest. On that point, MacLennan is optimistic.

"I can't imagine any leadership candidate saying they aren't behind
the fight against crystal meth."