DRUG CLINIC FACES CLOSURE

Direction 180 offers methadone therapy to N.S. addicts

Nova Scotia's fragile methadone treatment program for drug addicts may be
going down the drain.

Direction 180 in Halifax, a street clinic that provides most methadone
therapy in the regional municipality as well as the rest of the province, is
preparing to close it doors March 31 when federal support expires.

"It's pretty scary," said program director Cyndy MacIsaac.

"We're like a hot potato that nobody wants to touch . . . but our program
expires soon and we still do not have any word on new sources of funding."

The Gottingen Street clinic with its handful of full- and part-time staff
operates on an annual budget of $200,000. Ms. MacIsaac said it desperately
needs twice that amount to continue functioning effectively.

Methadone is used to help intravenous drug users beat their addictions. The
treatment is associated with heroin addiction in most Canadian centres, but
in Nova Scotia the prevalent needle-injected drug among addicts is the
painkiller Dilaudid, Ms. MacIsaac said.

Some pharmacies in the Halifax area display signs indicating they don't have
Dilaudid.

When Direction 180 started as a pilot program in February 2000 it was
supposed to treat about 30 addicts. Now it regularly serves 129 addicts, few
of whom will have any other treatment option if the service ends.

Direction 180 was created by Human Resources Development Canada, which has
indicated it won't be renewing support.

"We're unable to secure new sources of funding," Ms. MacIsaac said, adding
the Capital district health authority and the Health Department haven't
responded to requests for help.

Any lack of methadone treatment should be a concern across the province, she
said.

"Addictive intravenous drug use is not just an urban problem, it affects
many outlying communities as well."

She said clinic visitors regularly come from New Glasgow, Truro, Lunenburg
and other communities, as well as from other provinces.

Ms. MacIsaac cited research by a Direction 180 outreach worker in 2001 that
identified a cluster of 50-75 people in Pictou County, mostly in Stellarton
area, who were addicted IV drug users. The addicts included 13- and
14-year-olds to 30-year-olds, many of whom were sharing needles.

Nova Scotia has an IV drug abuse problem, she said.

"At any time we have 20 to 30 people waiting to get into the (methadone)
program, and that is no exaggeration."

Ms. MacIsaac said other Canadian jurisdictions are learning that ignoring IV
drug abuse has many costs.

She said methadone helps addicts break away from high-risk behaviour such as
crime and the sex trade to get money to support their habit and also the
dangerous practice of sharing needles.