DETOX BEDS STILL IN SHORT SUPPLY

With Rising Rates Of Youth Drug And Alcohol Use And Abuse It Has
Become Increasingly Difficult To Provide Them With The Necessary
Treatment To Combat The Illness

With rising rates of youth drug and alcohol use and abuse it has
become increasingly difficult to provide them with the necessary
treatment to combat the illness.

The Alberta Alcohol and Drug Abuse Commission has opened 24 new
addictions treatment beds -- four detoxification beds and eight
residential program beds each in Calgary and Edmonton. The new
additions -- focussed on youth ages 12 to 17 years -- come as a
result of a $4.2 million boost from the Alberta health budget.

"The detox can take six to 10 days on average, sometimes longer, and
the residential treatment can last three months up to a year," said
Dave Rodney, chair of AADAC. "We want to get these kids as clean and
sober as soon as possible and on the road to a complete recovery so
they're happy, healthy citizens contributing to society."

Rodney said the government has received a number of requests for
treatment facilities, but any new centres will have to go through a
budgetary process and depends on what areas of the province apply.

Craig Featherstone, executive director of the Walter A. 'Slim' Thorpe
Recovery Centre in Lloydminster said while the 24 beds won't satisfy
the need, it's a step in the right direction.

"We've had a history of not having any place for youth to go when
they've had addiction problems," he said. "All the treatment that's
been available has been non-residential up to this point, so now we
do have some residential treatment available for youth so that's
pretty exciting. "I don't believe that it will be even close to being
enough, but it's a beginning. Sixteen program beds and eight detox
beds isn't very much and certainly at some point we may be looking at
doing something with youth on a separate program basis."

The Thorpe Centre is in the process of developing plans for expansion
and Featherstone hopes that will lead to more treatment beds in
Lloyd. AADAC and Prairie North Health Region pay for some of the beds
and the expansion may garner more funding from both provinces to help
keep services free for patients.

"We are definitely going to do something -- we don't have enough beds
to service the demand, not even close," he said. "What we've looked
at at this point is something that's going to at least double the
number of beds we have, both in detox and programming. The demand is
there, we know it's going to work, it's just a matter of how exactly
it's going to look."

Featherstone said it's important to have youth-specific programming
and future expansions could bring that right to the Border City.