Experts meet to discuss crystal meth use in P.A.

Since crystal meth appeared in Prince Albert in 2015 its effects have been devasting at an individual and societal level.

“I have seen people who are addicted to opioids still able to carry on with their lives, maybe keep a job, go to school,” Sargeant Brad Beaton told the forum. “People who abuse cocaine same thing. When people get addicted to methamphetamine it absolutely consumes them.”

Beaton noted that as someone who has worked in enforcement units for the last 15 years, he sees value in cracking down on drug suppliers and gangs, but he’s also come to question the enforcement based approach.

“What are we doing to fix the problem? Because as long as there’s a demand there for the drug, as long as people still need or want crystal meth, they’re going to find it, somebody’s going to get it to them. We have to figure something out, in my opinion, to get people off the drug,” he said.

A different drug

Crystal meth has become the drug of choice in Prince Albert and across much of the prairies due to its low-cost and the extreme amounts of dopamine it releases in the brain. Its powerful effect on the neurotransmitter leads to intense feelings of pleasure during initial uses, and later, a heavy dependence on the drug. Eventually it affects the brain’s ability to create dopamine and serotonin on its own. Long-term meth users often feel suicidal during come downs.

“A typical meth user will come into us and say ‘okay I want to quit’,” Cam Friesen of Addiction Services said. “But their body’s not making serotonin anymore, so they’re living in these long periods of time in a depressed state, so automatically what do they do: ‘I know what will fix this’, and they go back to using.”

It’s precisely because of crystal meth’s effect on the brain that the week-long detox programs and 28-day inpatient treatment centers employed in Saskatchewan are proving to be not as effective as they would be for a substance like alcohol, the conference heard.

Addiction Services uses a cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) based approach to help people overcome their addiction, but Friesen says research shows that meth users need time for their brains to return to normal functioning.

“Research shows [people] shouldn’t even be working 60 days after they’ve been clean because they can’t absorb anything, they can’t think of anything, they can’t process anything,” he said. “We’re like this, ‘go to detox for five days, come and see the addictions counsellor and I’m going to get you healthy.’ That’s not working, it’s not working.”

A mother’s story

Ronni Nordal has experienced this firsthand. Her adult son completed a 28-day treatment program in Saskatoon on three separate occasions, each time falling back into using afterwards.

Finally, as a last resort, Nordal paid for him to receive long-term treatment at a private facility in B.C. He spent five months in full residential treatment, with a price tag of $7,500 a month. He then stayed on at the center for over a year. This October he will celebrate three years clean.

“My family was in a position to pay for private treatment,. Treatment shouldn’t depend on your bank account,” she told paNOW.

Nordall says the 28-day model, widely used in Saskatchewan, isn’t based on evidence.

“The 28-day model arose because that’s what American insurance companies would pay for, it has nothing to do with a clinical aspect of treatment,” she said.

Calling the province’s response to its drug problem “lacking,” Nordal urged that recovery is possible, but Saskatchewan needs to open more long-term treatment beds. She also noted that the “us vs. them” thinking that sometimes hangs over conversations about addiction needs to stop.

“No one goes out and chooses to be an addict. Traumas, something’s happened, there’s an underlying cause and until we deal with the cause, until we help them deal with whatever they are trying to not feel by using drugs, we’re going to keep having the addiction.”

A team

Speakers throughout the event emphasized the importance of a coordinated response and working together. Raymond Laliberte of the Metis Addictions Council of Saskatchewan called the participants in the room his “team.”

“What can we do with no resources? What can we do without asking for resources from on high? How can we be creative in our communities? That’s what we’re challenged with,” he told the forum.

Meanwhile Al Ducharme told the attendees that he was encouraged to look around the full Parkland Hall gym and see many different organizations represented.

“We think that there is something we can do about it, and there is,” he said. “There are many strategies, probably each and everyone of your organizations has a strategy, but when we meet like this, we can learn from each other as well.”

alison.sandstrom@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @alisandstrom

by Alison Sandstrom

Experts meet to discuss crystal meth use in P.A.

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