LIMITED TREATMENT OPTIONS DISCOURAGE ADDICTS

More than 30 years ago, John Edzerza hit rock bottom.

The New Democrat MLA was an alcoholic.

"It felt like I was ready to die," he said Monday, sitting in his office.

"You're still alive, but every emotion, everything in you has no life in it."

As a last resort, Edzerza went to the territory's only treatment
centre, then called Crossroads.

He was turned away.

"They said there might be an opening in 30 days," he said.

"I just walked away and never did go back."

The territory still lacks treatment options, said Edzerza.

"The 28-day programs they have at Sarah Steele (building) are inadequate."

It's all the territory offers.

Alcohol and Drug Services runs nine 28-day treatment programs a year
at Sarah Steele.

Each program can accommodate 12 clients. Women and men's programs run
alternately, with a two-week break between programs.

So, if a woman needs to come in for treatment, and the woman's
program already started, she will have to wait the duration of that
program and the duration of the following men's program before
starting treatment.

"The most vulnerable time for a person with an alcohol or drug
addiction is when they are at that moment when they really want
help," said Edzerza.

"And if you're told to come back in 30 days or more, you've just shot
all hope for them to address this issue."

Alcohol and Drug Services supervisor Dale Gordon disagrees.

The 28-day treatment programs are no more effective than other
treatment options offered at Sarah Steele, he said.

"There's a common misconception that if you're not an in-patient
you're not getting treatment," said Gordon.

"But statistics show out-patient treatment is just as effective."

If a treatment program isn't available when a client needs it, they
can become "out-patients."

These patients are set up with a counsellor and attend group sessions
once a week until a program becomes available.

Not good enough, said Edzerza.

"If I'm a chronic alcoholic and I'm coming to see you and I'm sober
for this one little picture window period of time -- maybe I've only
been sober six hours, or a day -- and you tell me, 'We'll send a
counsellor to your house twice a week,' well, sometimes, you need to
be able to get away from that environment," he said.

"And if you can't, I think it adds to the person's reluctance to even
deal with this issue."

There is a lack of comprehensive treatment options in the territory,
said Blood Ties Four Directions executive director Patricia Bacon.

"That's the feedback we get from our clients.

"We need programs you can access right away -- without waiting lists."

And there's frustration about what's not available, she added.

Ready to try giving up alcohol or drugs, many of Bacon's clients
claim there aren't enough treatment options that fit.

"You can't just have one program and hope that's going to work for
every person who's using drugs or alcohol and wants to move away from
that," said Bacon.

"We need more."

There are no programs for young people, she added.

And there are no programs modified to meet the needs of people with
FASD, said Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Society executive director Judy Pakozdy.

"(Alcohol and Drug Services) are mandated to do certain treatment,
and it works for certain people," she said.

"But there's a high demand for more variety."

Addicts with FASD are totally different clientele, said Gordon, who
does see some clients with mild FASD come through Sarah Steele's programs.

To run programs for these clients, counsellors would have to be
trained differently, he said.

"And I have no idea how to meet this need.

"We'd need more staff and a bigger building."

Right now, Gordon is short-staffed.

Three treatment counsellors are doing the work of four. And it's taxing.

Gordon is also short an outpatient counsellor, with only four doing
the work of five.

"This past winter we only had two," he said.

The shortage resulted in longer wait times for clients in need.

"Sometimes they'd have to wait one or two weeks to see a counsellors," he said.

That's an eternity when someone needs help, said Edzerza.

Court-ordered to return to treatment seven years after he was turned
away from Crossroads, Edzerza went back.

"I didn't have a choice," he said.

For the first couple weeks, nothing changed.

Then, Edzerza was introduced to the medicine wheel.

"They were using it as a counselling tool," he said.

Edzerza hasn't touched alcohol in more than 15 years, and he
attributes it to the First Nations' treatment component.

"That traditional section planted a seed for me," he said.

"The majority of the clientele that needs help right now are First
Nations people.

"And there's a real cultural clash here."

If treatment programs are devoid of First Nations culture, many First
Nations people feel excluded, said Edzerza.

"If there's nothing First Nations there, our people just avoid it --
they feel they have no belonging in that program and they won't use it."

There is no longer a First Nations treatment component at Sarah
Steele, said Gordon.

The program used to serve mostly First Nations clients, he said.

"But now people are beginning to understand it's not just a First
Nations problem -- it's about 50/50.

"So our treatment is not specific, it's open to all Yukoners."

In the last few years, Gordon has seen a change in more than just clientele.

Crack and cocaine use is on the rise, he said.

"Five years ago I was seeing mostly alcohol addiction."

"Now, crack and cocaine have caught up."

Gordon is seeing as many people in treatment for cocaine as he is for alcohol.

"And it's moving up in the age bracket," he said.

"It used to be thought of as a yuppie 21-year-old drug.

"But now you are seeing people 50 and 60 who are addicted."

The standard for crack cocaine treatment is a 60-day program, said Gordon.

"But we don't have the resources."

Gordon would like to hold a longer program, and a family program, but
this would mean cutting some of the other treatment programs.

Alcohol and Drug services only offers 28-day programs because "it's
the best overall way to treat addictions when you're not treating
specific drugs," he said.

Longer, more varied programs, a bigger building located further away
from downtown bars, and a halfway house are some of Gordon's dreams.

"People come out of treatment and end up going back to the same hell
they are trying to leave," he said.

"They feel trapped."

Gordon sees the same clients return repeatedly to his programs.

"It's not unusual to have someone come back seven or eight times," he said.

"And on that seventh or eighth time something clicks, and they stay clean."

Recovery is a long process, said Gordon.

"And treatment programs aren't the cure.

"They just offer clients the tools to stay clean and sober until it
becomes a habit."

The Yukon Party is committed to dealing with further treatment in the
territory, said Premier Dennis Fentie, citing the substance-abuse
action plan and proposed facilities at the new jail.

"Most people in (the jail) are going to be doing two years less a
day," said Fentie.

"So, a 28-day (treatment program) is useless.

"We're going to try and provide programs that will assist them to
leave a facility such as WCC and become assets to society instead of
liabilities."

But it's really up to the individual, added Fentie.

"At the end of the day, when it comes to addictions and substance
abuse, the number-one, front-end decision is the individual himself.

"And the government, counsellors, doctors, nurses and professionals
can only do so much if an individual is not prepared to make the right choice."

Health and Social Services Minister Brad Cathers refused to comment
on treatment issues in the territory.