FUTURE UNCLEAR FOR DRUG CENTRE

KELOWNA - Tom overdosed on heroin twice last summer in Vancouver
before addictions workers in Kelowna gave him the "greatest gift" --
his life back

At 42, the former restaurant owner and maitre d' had bottomed out.
He'd been shot at, beaten and spent time behind bars for trafficking.
A friend and counsellor at Crossroads Treatment Centre in Kelowna
arranged a bed for him so he could begin drying out after years of
drug abuse

Five months later, Tom is clean, sober and working as a volunteer in
the Crossroads kitchen. He's renting a place for the first time in
five years

"I'm blessed to be here," he said. "These people are giving me my life
back." But there's uncertainty about the future of the Valley's only
residential treatment centre. As hundreds of addicts struggle to quit
their habit in Okanagan cities, the Interior Health Authority is
reviewing its yearly contract with Crossroads. Staff are afraid the
IHA will stop funding the centre by early next year and try a new
approach that abandons residential treatment

"We're in the middle of an epidemic. We've got hundreds of people on
the street. What are we doing for them?" said Tom. "Let's get more
treatment beds. This place is always full. What does that tell you?"
With an annual budget of $1.4 million, the Crossroads centre in
Kelowna treats about 900 people a year. A drug addict or alcoholic who
gets one of the eight "detox" beds usually spends four to 10 days
going through withdrawal before he or she detoxifies from the
substance. Medical experts stand by in case there's a seizure or other
complication

Ideally, an addict discharged from a detox bed goes straight to one of
the centre's 43 treatment beds for up to four weeks. Those beds,
however, are booked two to three months in advance. A patient out of
detox may be stable, but there's often no bed or treatment available
for him to learn how to kick his habit

"Most go straight back to where they came from, which is usually a
highrisk environment. They're very vulnerable to relapse," said Ronwyn
Grace, the centre's executive director

"They've received no treatment except detox. It's not long enough.
This is an endless problem we have." Current research supported by the
United Nations suggests addicts need a minimum stay of three months in
treatment and the option of transitional housing for another six
months to a year before they fully recover, said Grace. She says 28
days at Crossroads is a "joke" because many are just stabilizing when
they have to leave. "You can't reverse years of behaviour and
addiction in 28 days," she said.