METHADONE CLINIC OPENS IN SECHELT

The Coast's first-ever methadone maintenance clinic has been up and
running for its first successful month.

The methadone maintenance program is a harm reduction program
stabilizing heroin and opiate dependent people.

Before the clinic opened, people in the program were getting methadone
prescriptions from doctors' offices. The clinic offers a more holistic
and attentive environment to address surrounding issues in the
person's life. The doctors on the Coast who prescribe methadone, James
McFarland and Ron Estey, are alternating weeks staffing the clinic,
along with a nurse.

"I'm a real firm believer in it," McFarland said. "It's for people who
have tried to quit or get off drugs and haven't been able to. It
allows them to stabilize their lives. I've seen people get back to
work whereas before they couldn't." Ron Mundy will be the backup doctor.

"I'm hoping that getting individuals who have opiate-dependent issues
involved in a more holistic approach that we may be able to help
people start developing stable lifestyles and eventually get off
methadone," Mundy said.

The clinic runs every Thursday from 1 p.m. to 4:30 out of Vancouver
Coastal Health's (VCH) mental health and addictions' trailer annex for
the home detox program beside St. Mary's Hospital.

McFarland brought up the idea a few years ago and home detox nurse
Wendy Hunt continued to push for it to finally happen. Maureen Oliver
has been the project's consultant, and Barnabas Walther, VCH's North
Shore/Coast Garibaldi director for mental health and addictions, has
also been a partner in the project. The idea was to create a place
where people who are getting methadone maintenance could get
counselling, including help with nutrition, through a team approach,
Hunt said.

The two doctors were not taking new methadone clients, so some people
were travelling to Vancouver for prescriptions. McFarland said he had
been having difficulty expanding the program and was squeezing people
in between patients. So he thought he should co-ordinate with other
people involved in drug treatment as a team.

"I don't think doctors were able to give it the full attention it
deserved," McFarland said.

The methadone clinic is accepting new clients by appointment and
already has 15 or 20 registered, according to Laurie-Ann Ketter,
program support for addictions and detox.

Some people on the methadone program prefer to continue seeing their
doctor in his office instead of a clinic setting, McFarland said, or
because of the travel from Gibsons to Sechelt. But McFarland is
encouraging patients to use the clinic because of the available nursing.

This week was the clinic's fourth session after its Nov. 17 opening
date. Hunt had been staffing the clinic as the nurse for the first few
weeks. A new nurse now has been hired specifically for the clinic and
started Thursday.

Hunt found the people coming through the clinic seemed to like it and
noted it gives people more time to talk about the issues in their
lives, such as housing and physical health. She hopes to eventually
link the clinic with other agencies and services such as human resources.

Federal funding applications for the clinic were rejected over the
last few years, but with the acknowledgement that it was a good idea.
VCH's Sunshine Coast director of mental health and addictions Paul
Charron managed to scrape together some funding to get it started this
year.

"It may be a model for other rural communities," Hunt
said.

The College of Physicians and Surgeons of B.C. regulates the methadone
maintenance program, so the clinic established detailed policies and
procedures. People will come in and get a prescription from the doctor
then have it filled at one of the pharmacies in the community.

Most are on daily witnessed ingestions of the synthetic opioid powder
which is mixed with juice.

Ted Macdonald, a counsellor with the home detox program, was initially
not in favour of methadone treatment, seeing it as free drugs for
people. But through education on what it's about, his perception has
completely shifted. He has seen how a person's quality of life
improves while on the program. And the clinic offers counselling and
closer monitoring to ensure people on the program are using it to
improve their lives.

Methadone treatment reduces cravings and prevents withdrawal symptoms
from opioid drug dependence to heroin, codeine or morphine. Benefits
of methadone maintenance include reducing intravenous drug use and
other mood-altering drugs, improved mental and physical health,
reduced criminal activity, improved living situation, improved
relationships and improved work opportunities, according to a
methadone maintenance handbook.

The clinic accepts self-referrals as well as referrals from doctors or
other service providers. To make an appointment, phone the clinic at
604-885-8678.