DETOX CENTRE TO SHUT

A lack of funding has forced Ottawa's only detox centre to shut its doors for a
month and reduce services.

The Ottawa Withdrawal Management Centre (OWMC), which helps addicts through the
pain and illness of withdrawing from alcohol and drugs, will shut down from
Dec. 9 to Jan. 3 as a result of a $41,700 budget shortfall.

Furthermore, the centre was forced to reduce beds from 20 for men and six for
women to 15 for men and five for women in August.

Noting Ottawa's detox centre is among the busiest in the province, Bill Hayden,
advisory committee director with the OWMC, said the reduced services resulted
in having to refuse 123 requests for admission in August and he expects the
month-long closure will affect about 250 people.

At the best of times, the centre is forced to refuse about 1,000 requests for
admission a year.

Hayden said Ontario's 31 detox centres are all suffering, having received just
a 2% increase in funding over 10 years. "It's the whole system that needs to be
looked at in the whole province," he said.