METHADONE CLINIC NEEDED IN CITY

Injection drug use has become a big enough problem in the Brandon area
that the Addictions Foundation of Manitoba will start running a
methadone clinic in the city this fall to help people kick the
potentially deadly addictions.

"We believe there are enough initial clients to warrant having a
clinic," said Terry Gryschuk, regional director of AFM in western
Manitoba. "How large our capability will become will depend on what
demand there turns out to be."

Clinics offering methadone, a synthetic narcotic that helps get rid of
cravings for such opiates as heroin, opium, codeine, morphine and
OxyContin, now operate in urban centres across Canada.

The announcement of the methadone clinic, from AFM chief executive
officer John Borody, comes in the wake of the death of a 36-year-old
woman last week from a suspected drug overdose at a 12th Street
residence in Brandon.

Sean Devine, 31, of Alexander, faces a charge of criminal negligence
causing death in the demise of the woman, whose name is still the
subject of a court-ordered publication ban.

Autopsy results have been inconclusive so far, but several sources who
knew the victim told the Sun she died from an overdose of "poor man's
heroin," which is the street name for the prescription pain killer
OxyContin.

That drug, prescribed for people with cancer or chronic pain, has
become widely abused by addicts across North America, who crush the
pills, dilute them in water and inject them with a syringe.

At this point, Brandon addicts who want to go on methadone treatment -
about a dozen a year, Gryschuk said - must travel to AFM's Winnipeg
methadone clinic for an assessment, and to see a doctor who is
licensed to prescribe methadone.

Injection drug use happens in Brandon but is a virtually invisible
activity, said Const. Grant McKay, who's on the Brandon Police
Service's vice unit.

Those addicts who shoot drugs, unlike alcoholics and pot smokers, are
"a small group of people who stick to themselves," said McKay.
"They're out there, but it's not like when people have a pot party or
a drinking binge. It's sort of a closer knit, tight group of people."

In order for the methadone clinic to be set up here, AFM's part-time
doctor will be trained and licensed to prescribe methadone, which is
usually dispensed mixed into orange juice to make a drink.

At least one of the agency's counsellors will also be trained in
methadone support counselling, Gryschuk said. Some addicts remain on
the treatment for years to avoid getting back on drugs.

Gryschuk said clients who want methadone treatment will have to pay
for the treatment in the same way they'd pay for any other
prescription drug.