GROUP PUSHES PROVINCE FOR FUNDING

A Vancouver coalition of advocates for drug treatment is negotiating with
regional health authorities to open treatment centres in Langley and
Keremeos for up to 80 young addicts.

The plan proposed by Partners for Action would see addicts aged 14 to 24
receive care of up to six months or longer, said Ruth Annis, a member of
the coalition and executive director of Pacific Community Resources.

They would be the first long-term treatment centres in B.C.

"We're actually getting very strong support everywhere we go," Annis told
the Courier.

The coalition is waiting to see if the provincial government will allocate
new money to the Vancouver Coastal and Fraser health authorities for the
next fiscal year.

"It's not so much waiting on the health authorities as hoping the province
will bring the additional money we need in order to fully launch this
project," Annis said.

Annis' non-profit organization is working with Central City Mission
Foundation in the Downtown Eastside and From Grief To Action, a West
Side-based support group for parents and friends of addicts.

Each centre will cost about $3.5 million to operate per year. Central City
has already purchased the Keremeos property for $450,000. The Langley
property is owned by the provincial government, which has agreed to hold it
until the coalition can work a deal to lease or buy it.

The coalition's plan has the support of Mayor Larry Campbell and former
mayor and four-pillars drug strategy leader Philip Owen, who is contacting
provincial and federal politicians on behalf of the coalition.

"It's a very doable thing," said Owen, who believes the drug strategy must
now focus more on treatment and prevention. "The coalition is very, very
keen on making those places available for treatment, but they're not going
to hold on forever."

Peter Spencer, chairman of the Central City Mission Foundation, said
clients for the centres would likely be chosen through referrals from
respective health authorities.

"Although this is taking us outside the region, our perception is that in
effect we're dealing with the Downtown Eastside, and we're hoping to
prevent youth from becoming part of or wandering back into that scene,"
Spencer said.

Both properties have buildings on them, but need upgrades. The property in
Keremeos is spread over 55 acres and located near the Similkameen River. It
used to be owned by Outward Bound, a non-profit educational organization.

The Langley property is about 25 acres and located in the Campbell Valley
area, near the U.S. border. Pacific Community Resources, a long-time agency
serving troubled youth, would run both sites.

At a time when drugs such as crystal methamphetamine are ruining many young
people's lives, Spencer said more communities should be focusing on
developing treatment centres.

"As far as I understand it, there's a couple of shorter programs out
there-a month or two months maximum. And the problem is, as we've learned,
is kids get involved in those programs, leave them and there's no support
after that. We want to change that."