LOCALS DEBATE DETOX NEED

Right now in Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows adults who need to go to a
detox centre have to go to Surrey, Vancouver or Chilliwack for help.
But they don't always get in because those detox beds are often full.

That's not good enough for NDP MLA Michael Sather and Kathie Chiu,
executive director of the Salvation Army and others who work with
people suffering from addictions.

Sather said forcing people from Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows to go to
Surrey, Vancouver or Chilliwack is "totally inadequate."

"It's not very accessible," he said.

Sather, a former mental health therapist with Fraser Health Authority,
said he knows from past experience that if addicts don't get into
detox when they're ready to go "sometimes they give up."

"If they can get in and they can stick with it they can turn around
their lives," said Sather. "The Tri-Cities, Ridge Meadows area is
growing quickly and I think we should definitely have one in our area."

Chiu said the lack of adequate detox services has been something the
Salvation Army has been aware of for some time.

"We definitely need more detox beds and we've been complaining about
this for a long time. It's absolutely ridiculous getting people into
detox," said Chiu, explaining people often have to wait a week.

"If they're ready to go they're ready to go. You wait a couple of days
and they're gone. They've chickened out... and they're still in the
middle of active using," she said.

Even if there are detox beds available, Chiu said getting homeless
clients there is a big challenge.

"All the way to Surrey from Maple Ridge is like a two or three hour
journey (via public transit)," she said.

Sather agreed that getting to the detox centres is a big
problem.

"If you're going by bus you really have to be determined (due to poor
public transit options)," he said.

Chiu believes that wherever there's a hospital or major treatment
facility there should also be a detox centre.

"It doesn't seem to make any sense to me they have to go so far," she
said.

If addicts can't get into detox it prevents them from being able to
enter into a long-term treatment facility because many want the
addicts to have gone through medical detox first, added Chiu.

Billy Weselowski, executive director of InnerVisions Recovery Society,
said his society prefers to deal with clients that have already
detoxed due to safety concerns.

He agreed that Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows need their own detox
facility.

"I think it's a huge barrier," said Weselowski about the fact that
Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows don't have a detox centre. "We're getting
to the place with our growth...where we're building up our
infrastructure for our city but we're not doing very well with the
(social) infrastructure."

Weselowski, who is a former addict, said you need to ensure people get
into detox as soon as they're ready.

"When the window of opportunity comes you've got to be able to
capitalize on that," he said.

Dave Speers, project manager for Alouette Home Start Society, said the
society's two outreach workers often struggle to get people into detox
due to waiting lists.

"If there was a detox facility in this community I think it would make
our jobs easier and take away a few of those challenge," he said.

However, Speers said his organization does a good job of connecting
people with the services they require.

Ron Lawrance, executive director of Alouette Addictions, which offers
day treatment to addicts, said there seems to be a shortage of detox
beds.

But he said he doesn't believe that Maple Ridge needs a detox centre
as long as addicts are able to get to the existing ones. Lawrance said
his organization does everything it can to ensure clients can get to
detox.

"I think what Fraser Health has done is to locate (detox centres) in
strategic points where the majority of the population is," he said.

No one from the Fraser Health Authority was available to comment by
press time.