HELP FOR DRUG ADDICTS

New Provincially Funded Methadone Treatment Clinic To Open In Uptown Saint John

FREDERICTON - Help is on the way. A new methadone treatment clinic
is being established in uptown Saint John to assist those struggling
with opiate addictions.

The provincially funded clinic will treat individuals hooked on
opiates - such as heroin and Dilaudid - with methadone, a synthetic
opiate narcotic that can suppress an addict's craving and withdrawal.

The program, which is the first of its kind in the province, won't
require counselling in conjunction with treatment, and won't have a
limit on the number of people that can get help.

Ed Doherty, Liberal MLA for Saint John Harbour, said the clinic
represents a new way of tackling drug addiction, a growing problem
in his riding and around New Brunswick.

"The biggest health issue in Saint John is addiction," Doherty, who
worked as a doctor in the Port City prior to entering politics, said
Sunday. "By having an uptown location, it means more people can have
access to the service."

The clinic will be situated in the Mercantile Centre on Union
Street, and run by Dr. Duncan Webster. Further details of the
program will be announced at the centre Tuesday.

News of the clinic comes after months of pressure on the provincial
government to provide more methadone treatment centres, and as Saint
John, Moncton and Fredericton have experienced a wave of drug-related crime.

Carl Urquhart, Opposition public safety critic and Tory MLA for
York, has repeatedly called on the Liberal government to do
something about the long waiting lists at the province's methadone clinics.

The New Brunswick Association of Chiefs of Police adopted a motion
in February calling for more treatment spaces. Fredericton Police
Chief Barry MacKnight, president of the association, said at the
time that a large portion of street crime is committed by
drug addicts. He said improved methadone treatment would help reduce crime.

"We know with a large proportion of those cases, once they get onto
methadone, they're not doing crime," MacKnight said.

Saint John's Police Chief Bill Reid, another advocate for more
methadone treatment, said earlier this year that providing improved
treatment ends up costing the province much less in the long term.

The annual cost of a client in the methadone maintenance program is
about $6,000, while it's estimated the untreated opiate user can
cost society approximately $49,000 per year. The new program
will cost less than $6,000 per client.

The new treatment centre in Saint John means an increase from the
$1,790,000 the provincial government currently devotes to methadone
programs. Prior to the new clinic, Saint John received about
$403,000 for 151 treatment spots, with many more addicts waiting
for treatment.

There are about 80 people in the program at Ridgewood Addiction
Services in Saint John West, where treatment is provided along with
counselling and social services. Ridgewood expects to create 50 new
treatment spots in the next few months.

Doherty said some clients at the Mercantile Centre will also receive
counselling at Ridgewood. The program was developed in consultation
with Dr. Webster, Reid, and Julie Dingwell, the executive director
of AIDS Saint John.

Last April, the provincial government announced four new clinics in
St. Stephen, Edmundston, Campbellton and Bathurst - in addition to
those in Fredericton, Saint John, Moncton and Miramichi. Improved
methadone treatment was a promise in the Liberal party's 2006
Charter for Change.

- - with files from Canadaeast News Service