ADDICTION TREATMENT AIMED AT TEEN GIRLS

Terri Padavell is not surprised at the number of local youth who end
up addicted to drugs.

"Drugs are easier to get than alcohol for people under age 19," says
Padavell, director of addiction services at the Lower Mainland Purpose
Society for Youth and Families. "They're easy to access, they're in
our schools, they're everywhere."

And not only are they readily available, designer drugs such as
Ecstasy and crystal methamphetamine provide a cheap and lasting high.

"Addiction does not discriminate," she said, noting addicts come from
all ethnic and socio-economic backgrounds.

At the same time, there is a shortage of addictions treatment
facilities, particularly for youth and most especially for teenaged
girls suffering from addictions.

In response, the New Westminster-based Purpose Society has established
a new five-bed residential treatment centre in Burnaby specifically
aimed at girls aged 14 to 18. Padavell said their research found
nothing otherwise available for that group, particularly young women
who have not become involved with the criminal justice system. Peak
House, a co-ed facility for youth, exists in Vancouver but is
consistently wait-listed, a challenge when, to have a good chance of
success, addicts need help soon after they decide they want it, she
said.

"We just wanted something for young women," she said. "The dynamic
changes when a young man enters the room ... Young women tend to lose
their voices, there are issues they might not be willing to talk about
with young men in the room."

But The Cedars - named for the grounded, rooted, growing cedar trees
in front of the facility - doesn't come cheap. Unlike most other
treatment facilities, it doesn't receive any government funding. As a
result, without such a subsidy, clients pay $200 a day for the
three-month, live-in program. Padavell stressed Purpose Society "will
try to work with people" regarding financing.

The Cedars is staffed 24 hours a day and uses a holistic approach to
dealing with addictions, including group and individual counselling,
support for family, teaching of life skills, promotion of health and
fitness and community service activities. They'll also have access to
Purpose's alternative high school "when they're ready."

The key to successful treatment and to preventing the cycle from
recurring is to address those issues and behaviours that the addicts
are using drugs or alcohol to mask, Padavell said. For instance, it's
"quite common" for girls with eating disorders to try drugs in an
attempt to lose weight. Drug use can also stem from abuse issues or
depression among other factors.

The importance of dealing with the root causes of addiction became
clear for Erin during treatment for her drug and alcohol abuse. "It's
all feelings," said the 19-year-old, who asked that her last name not
be used. "I'd get loaded because I'd feel sad. I didn't cope with life."

Erin says she started using heroin, crack cocaine and alcohol when she
was 11 or 12, through people she knew at school. "It was easy to get
and I grew up in an environment where drugs were always around."

By age 15, "everything was falling apart, I was fighting with my dad,
running away ... I was just tired." That's when she decided she needed
to go clean. She had been in and out of school, and it was through
talking to teachers at one school that she was able to get into detox.
Unfortunately, after cleaning up with a stint at Maple Cottage, she
simply went back to school, with no other treatment.

She relapsed and returned to detox. This time, she remembers "begging"
staff there for help, telling them, "I don't know how to keep clean."

She says she lucked out and was able to enter Peak House within days
of leaving detox. She was kicked out of that two-month residential
treatment program for using drugs again, but was eventually readmitted
after she committed herself to going straight. From there, she was
sent to a women's recovery house where she was able to further benefit
from a supportive environment. "I can talk about certain things."

Now 19, Erin has been clean for nine months. And while she said it
"kinda sucks" that everyone can't benefit from government-funded
treatment as she did, she believes people will pay for a program such
as The Cedars.

Drug addiction is too difficult to beat on a person's own, especially
for young people, she said. "I never actually got clean until I was in
a safe place."

For more information on The Cedars addiction treatment program, call
604-526-2522.