Vancouver's Drug Fix?

Originally Posted by The Province

City mayor launches drug trial for downtown addicts
Counselling, help with housing, work part of program
John Bermingham The Province
Tuesday, February 27, 2007

Phoenix Beck would have gladly taken a pill to get off crystal meth.
Hooked at 15, the Vancouver woman spent five years in spiralling drug addiction before getting a prescription drug to curb her cravings.
Beck said she's thrilled Vancouver Mayor Sam Sullivan is launching a new treatment trial to provide prescription drugs to chronic cocaine, crack and meth addicts in the Downtown Eastside.
"It's just a really good starting-point for people to make the decision to get clean," said Beck yesterday. "Every day, I woke up and I just wanted to get high. It was ruining my life."
Beck took Adderall, a prescription amphetamine used for attention-deficit disorder. Today, she's drug-free, and holds down a job in the renewable energy sector.
Sullivan said the Chronic Addiction Substitution Treatment (CAST) trial will only give legal, prescription pills to addicts.
"I have seen drug addiction destroy many young lives and communities, and detract from the life of everyone," said Sullivan.
"People with addictions can be freed to find healing," he said.
The stimulant-substitution program will need the OK from federal authorities for a clinical trial.
The participants will be prescribed pills to be taken orally, monitored, given drug counselling and helped with social housing and employment.
Research in Europe and Australia has shown that oral drug substitutes reduce cocaine use, criminal activity and cravings in participants.
CAST is co-chaired by top federal Tory organizer John Reynolds, and is being run by long-time Tory operative Lois Johnson.
"While this is not a panacea, ending drug dependency is our goal," said Johnson.
The CAST treatment trial will be led by top doctors, including Vancouver's medical health officer Dr. John Blatherwick.
"We are ready to give this a shot," said Blatherwick. "The political will is the thing that makes it good."
Vision Vancouver Coun. Tim Stevenson said he's unhappy Sullivan did not consult city council about the substitute drug trial.
In a council motion today, Vision will ask for details, including a cost breakdown.
jbermingham@png.canwest.com

I guess I shouldn't complain that the city is at least taking a somewhat proactive step to aiding the residents of the DTES, but I am not a fan of replacing one vice with another.

I think it is going to pacify the situation for a short while but it just isn't a solution.

[hardstylin]

neat idea!

I heard you can kill ur cocaine addiction if you freebase and smoke it.

[mekim]

i'm personally not the biggest fan of replacement therapy -- it allows you to keep a monkey on your back rather than dealing with it straight out. doesn't mean it won't work for some people, though, and more choices when we're dealing with beating addiction is always a good thing.

[Gusto]

Originally Posted by Avana

I think it is going to pacify the situation for a short while but it just isn't a solution.

not yet no, it's part of a solution hopefully. it'll be a gradual effect. better than nothing right.

[tango]

i dont think the point of the substituted drug is to become a permanent replacement for meth/coke/whatever. its a less harmful replacement that helps to wean off the drugs. they've had methadone to replace heroin for years already. its like wearing a patch, or taking zyban while trying to quit smoking. you dont wear the patch for the rest of your life. and its harder to kick a nicotine addiction than it is to quit heroin...(so i've heard).

[dabbler]

props to phoenix for showing her support for the program. And I don't see this as a solution for everyone, but just the people who are ready and willing to quit.

[mekim]

Originally Posted by dabbler

props to phoenix for showing her support for the program. And I don't see this as a solution for everyone, but just the people who are ready and willing to quit.

it's a solution for the people who respond to replacement therapy. unfortunately, it can have a pretty low success rate. like i said, it's nice to have another weapon in the arsenal, i just don't think this one is quite as good as people make it out to be.

[dabbler]

better than nothing innit

when i needed to quit, i didn't realize there were any options to help

Originally Posted by mekim

it's a solution for the people who respond to replacement therapy. unfortunately, it can have a pretty low success rate. like i said, it's nice to have another weapon in the arsenal, i just don't think this one is quite as good as people make it out to be.

I personally think it is being pumped so heavily by the city in an attempt to pull the wool over everyone's eyes.

"ooohhh, lets make it seem like we are actually doing something and maybe our residents will believe us...."

Originally Posted by dabbler

better than nothing innit

when i needed to quit, i didn't realize there were any options to help

I guess it is....

But for many heroin addicts, methadone is just another score. They don't necessarily quit the heroin, and continue to take the methadone...

[mekim]

Originally Posted by dabbler

better than nothing innit

when i needed to quit, i didn't realize there were any options to help

yeah, i just said it's better than nothing.

i went through all the options, tried most of them. for me, replacement therapy was about the worst idea out there. straight up quitting has been the only thing that worked.

i'm not knocking just because it didn't work for me. i'm worried about people thinking it's a perfect solution when it really doesn't have that large of a success rate.

[-evil-duerr-]

like was said earlier, it will help the people who want to help themselves.

if people don't wanna quit, they aint gonna quit. The ones who don't wanna quit are the ones who abuse methadone and refuse any treatment.

This will be an opportunity for the addicts who are looking for a way out, but haven't seen any other way.

I think it's definitely a good thing. The only ones who are gonna abuse it are ones that are beyond help.

There is only so much the government can do for a person.

[b0ld]

What the fuck? is the city out of its mind????
I understand what the city is trying to do here however its an approach that isn't going to work.... Is someone going to convince me that the "war against drugs" is to only have the person to pop in pills? What the hell is wrong with that concept. Having an existing addict to convince them to take more prescription drugs is only going to pose more of a problem...

When you look at the big picture based on the "problem" that they have in the city on the easy side and throughout the province it only comes down to 1 thing which is government cuts. The drug users are mentally ill and need help however the government has essentially cut almost all funding now to psychward treatment and what not. These people need to have someone to talk to about there mental abuse to causes them to go into a spiral which ends up putting themselves addicted to a drug to keep there "high". With hardly any funding to psychiatric facilities now days how do they expect these people to get better? It seems like once when your down the government wants to literally bury you and prescribing more drugs to someone is obviously not the solution. The only thing thats going to happen is that these drug users are going to trade or sell it on the street only for it to be cut up to use to shoot up..

And the city wants to use Adderall? I believe that Health Canada suspended sales like 2 years ago on that shit? and supposively if it is used its advised not to use the product if they suffer from mental illnessses or drug abuse. Besides if they are going to be using this what is going to be the long term effects on that person? after all there immune system is not screwed for live based on the shit that they were using? So years down the road if they develope something as a result and it turns out it had something to do with this stuff that the city plans on using who the hell is going to pay if there is a law suit??? Oh right the tax payers...

The only solution for these people is for people to listen which is why the government needs to put back funds into psychiatry. After all the government does acknowledge we have a surplus...

[Vitamin-X]

meh, maybe it will help.
No real harm in trying. If it flunks it flunks.
Besides I'll suport anything that keeps them from busting the windows on
my car.

[tiedye]

Not supporting this is basically saying you don't approve of similar treatments, such as methadone. The improvements will be slow at first, but I think after a year of this program there will be significant figures to warrant more research into this direction of therapy.

Also, it will be much easier to ween someone off these meds because they will be off the street, have jobs, and see a therapist. Lack of money, housing, and help is the hardest part of kicking an addiction. If you have nowhere to go but the street, you'll never get away from the substance regardless of your desire to.