B.C. METH STRATEGY IGNORES SMALL TOWNS

British Columbia's plan to put crank on ice ignores the plight of rural
communities, says a local drug counsellor.

The province announced its plan this week to combat crystal methamphetamine
use in B.C. And while the plan does address how to tackle the issue in big
cities, the drug is also a problem in small towns, a fact that isn't
addressed in the government's strategy, said Bob Hughes.

The youth addictions counsellor at The Phoenix Centre in Kamloops said the
strategy is well-researched and encompasses a four-pillar approach to
substance abuse - harm reduction, prevention, education and treatment - but
that "it doesn't focus on the rural component." "Unlike [crack cocaine],
which was an urban experience, this [crystal meth] is much more rural,"
Hughes said.

"[The strategy] has a lot of talk about the services available within an
urban setting and seems tailored to the services that exist there. But it
doesn't recognize that this is very much a rural problem as well."

The strategy brings together six provincial ministries - Health; Education;
Public Safety and the Solicitor General; Human Resources; Children and
Family Development; and Community, Aboriginal and Women's Services - into
partnership with B.C.'s six health authorities, municipalities, schools,
community organizations and service providers.

The plan is based on the principle that every door is the right door. And it
is harmonized to work alongside the provincial addictions framework released
by the province in May, co-ordinates the efforts of front-line care workers
so that a person with a drug problem isn't refused treatment because of a
disability or illness.

Hughes says the strategy, which he applauds as "forward thinking" and a
"really good first effort," works in an urban setting because the support
services and community organizations are already in place to support the
four-pillar approach.

In small communities, "you start to water down that four-pillar because
there isn't the resources."

In rural regions the government needs to provide support and education to
the community groups that do exist, he said.

"My goal is to make sure people don't take it, and if they are on it, how
can we help them get off," said Susan Brice, minister of state for mental
health and addiction services. "That's as basic as it gets."

With the announcement Tuesday, the government can begin implementing the
strategy. For starters each of the involved ministries has agreed to certain
"deliverables."

For example the Ministry of Public Safety and the Solicitor General will
work with Brice and the College of Pharmacists of B.C. to limit access to
"precursors" - the ephedrine and pseudo-ephedrine found in many
over-the-counter cold remedies - that serve as the base in the production of
crystal meth. The Ministry of Education, on the other hand, will work to
develop substance misuse prevention within the K-12 curriculum.

The ministries will begin implementing their commitments this fall and will
report their progress to Brice by December.

"We'll make sure that this [strategy] stays on the tracks," she said.