CENTRE A STEP IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION

The Vancouver Island Health Authority's announcement that it plans to build
a sobering and assessment centre this summer in downtown Victoria is welcome
and positive news.

The sobering centre will be a welcome addition to the woefully inadequate
treatment services for alcohol and drug addicts on the Island.

But it's also a unique new approach to care, one that combines access to
social agencies and programs with the medical help people need to get
cleaned up.

In putting the sobering centre next door to a detox centre, VIHA will give
some of Greater Victoria's most troubled individuals a better chance to
regain control over their lives.

Homeless addicts will get help finding shelter if they want it. Addicts with
underlying mental illnesses make up close to 50 per cent of people who end
up in detox.

Believe it or not, this has never before been attempted on Vancouver Island.

And the reason it's happening now is that someone, somewhere in government,
has sold our elected officials on the idea of treating addiction as an
illness, instead of a crime.

It's about time.