BC needs more addiction services: 1 in 10 is addicted to something

Vancouver, BC – Addiction affects nearly 400,000 people in British Columbia. Those who suffer from this disease are not only the visibly homeless—they come from every socioeconomic, geographic, cultural and age demographic, and their struggles include not only addiction to illicit drugs but also the more prevalent addictions to alcohol and gambling. 
 
In its just released policy paper, Stepping Forward: Improving Addiction Care in British Columbia, the BC Medical Association makes 10 recommendations to enhance current methods of addiction care and ensure that everyone who needs treatment has access to it. Chief among these recommendations is that the provincial government formally recognize addiction as a chronic disease and fund all medical care for addicted people accordingly. As well, BC must significantly invest in treatment infrastructure and community support. 
 
“Most people tend to think of Vancouver’s downtown eastside as the problem area of the province. The reality is that nearly 1 in 10 British Columbians province wide suffers from some form of addiction or dependence. The downtown eastside is not where people often start, but it is where they often end up,” said Dr. Shao Hua Lu, lead author of the paper from the BCMA’s Council on Health Promotion. “The more severe cases lead to death, but begin with homelessness, hospital and ER use, and crime.” 
 
 In 2002, the latest year we have figures for, the financial burden of substance abuse in British Columbia was $6 billion and can be attributed to direct costs such as health care and law enforcement, and indirect costs such as disability, insurance, and time away from work. A recent study showed that as many as 1 in 10 visits to Vancouver General Hospital’s emergency department was for substance abuse. Each year BC uses enough hospital beds across BC caring for people with substance abuse to fill Kelowna General Hospital every day for a year. 
 
“The provincial government has reinvested in mental health, addiction services and housing in recent years—and it is to be commended—but there are still critical gaps that must be addressed if we are to truly tackle addiction in BC,” said Dr. Lu. 
 
BC needs to have a full continuum of care for addictions—from prevention through treatment and community support to effectively supporting those struggling with an addiction. For this reason the BCMA is calling for the development of 600 new addiction treatment beds (self-contained units rather than simply beds), and the creation and funding of 240 new flexible medically supervised detoxification spaces so that detox is available “on demand.” These are currently two of the biggest gaps in addiction care in BC. These spaces simply aren’t there when they are needed the most. The complete report can be found at www.bcma.org. 
 
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For more information: 
Sharon Shore 
604-638-2832 
604-306-1866 (pager)