PARADIGM SHIFT IN ADDICTION TREATMENT

A youth addiction funding announcement by Interior Health Wednesday
signifies a fundamental shift in the way the experts will treat kids
hooked on meth or cocaine

The new policy will provide for four "safe beds" for young addicts
trying to go straight, but more important will be three more outreach
workers on the street, for a total of four

Dr. Don Duncan, Interior Health's mental health director for the
Okanagan, said the street treatment is "miles ahead" of the more
traditional models of treatment centres

Duncan was responding to the closure of the five-bed Iridian youth
detox centre and the announcement of the four safe beds to be placed
in specialized foster homes - still leaving a net loss of one bed.

"We may be one bed short, but if you are counting therapy spots (on
the street), we're miles ahead," said Duncan.

Duncan said it's a common misunderstanding that people, especially
youth, need medical attention as they kick meth or cocaine, although
they may when withdrawing from heroin or alcohol.

For young people, cessation of meth or cocaine will bring on a
crashing depression, but it doesn't require medical supervision nor
additional drug therapy.

"Very few need detox as it's commonly understood," said Duncan, "but
they do need a supportive environment as they shift the gears from
habitual use."

Duncan said the increase in outreach workers is essential to young addicts.

"The outreach workers need to meet the young people where they are
at, geographically and mentally," said Duncan. "We can't have an
ivory tower approach where we wait for them to come for help. We need
to reach out to them.

"Housing and therapy do not necessarily need to be tied together.
Treatment needs to start on the street. When they are ready to begin
the trek, then the supportive housing can be provided."

Stays in the safe beds would be one to 10 days.

Iridian's Dennis Dandeneau said he will meet with IH to see if
Iridian can bid on managing the four new beds.

"They are in different specialized foster care homes, so that is a
different model from Iridian," said Dandeneau. "We'll have to look at
the model IH has presented. We'll know better when we have more
details in hand."

The five Iridian beds were in one location. Four were short-term
detox stays while a fifth, a separate transition suite, was for those
who needed more time to access other services.

Since it opened in 2003, Iridian treated 155 young people who wanted
to kick their addiction from crack, meth or other stimulants. It had
an annual operating budget of $386,000 before the federal government
withdrew funding June 30.

Dandeneau applauded the IH funding.

"I'm really pleased to see that kind of attention given to youth
addiction, which has been severely underfunded in the past," he said.