Addiction treatment represents an important component of societal response to the harms associated with substance use. Constructing an accurate picture of the range of publicly and privately funded addiction services can be a key component of a comprehensive addiction monitoring system. Particularly when combined with other approaches that yield information on the distribution of problem substance use, data on the distribution of addiction treatment can inform the development of public policy in this area.
When combined with the other components of the Alcohol and Other Drug Monitoring project, the Addiction Treatment component allows a comparison between the estimated need for services in the community and the available treatment capacity. The Addiction Treatment data set also will allow the identification of changing patterns of need due to shifts in the patterns of drug consumption. Finally, it can serve as an additional vehicle for the health authorities and other treatment providers to communicate to a broad audience the positive changes resulting from new investments in addiction treatment.
Preliminary Findings from 2007/08 Survey
Preliminary findings of the 2007/08 addiction treatment study offer some highlights on the nature of problems experienced by those entering treatment in BC. Based on provincial data from the 2007 calendar year, alcohol was the most predominant primary substance of concern reported by all privately and publicly funded agencies across BC.
Publicly funded agencies in the Interior Health and Vancouver Coastal Health authorities reported that cocaine was the second most common problem substance after alcohol, while the Northern Health authority reported cannabis as the predominant secondary problem substance, with cocaine a close third. Fraser Health and Vancouver Island Health Authority did not have updated problem substance use data available at the time of this report.
Over half of privately funded addiction treatment providers reported alcohol as the primary drug of choice for patients, followed closely by cocaine/crack and marijuana. Among federally funded Aboriginal treatment centres in the province, alcohol and opioids were the most commonly reported problem substances.
The type of addiction treatment services offered across the province varies significantly. Vancouver Coastal Health has developed an extensive range of services, but with a clear emphasis on community-based services. In contrast, Fraser Health has a much larger portion of their services based in residential treatment.
Privately funded addiction service providers clearly contribute a substantial portion, if not the majority, of residential addiction services in the province. Community-based mutual support groups are perhaps the most accessible and widely distributed form of addiction treatment in the province.