Surveys were sent out through postal mail for private treatment agencies after phone contact with the organizations to obtain the name of the person best suited to provide the data.

For the Health Authorities, the researchers met representatives of each health authority by attending the provincial addiction network meetings that occur every quarter. Contacts were made at these meeting with health authority leaders who would either provide the data or pass on the name of the person better suited to forward the data within their respective health authorities.

Surveys for the health authorities were sent out through electronic mail at the beginning of September 2009 to gather information on fiscal year 2008-2009. Survey questionnaires destined for private treatment agencies were sent out through postal mail along with self-addressed stamped envelops at the beginning of September. Follow up emails and phone contact was initiated after six weeks of no-response.

We received partial or complete information for all health authorities pertaining to fiscal year 2008-2009. Some health authorities were only able to provide the project with partial information because their data collection systems were not integrated to easily extract the information we requested. The health authority representatives made every effort to provide the data that is available and accessible. No attempt was made to include supportive addiction housing in this report but it could be added to future reports.

Addiction treatment types were grouped into the following categories:

• Addiction community
  outpatient services
• Residential withdrawal
  management
• Daytox
• Home withdrawal
  management
• Short-term intensive
  residential treatment
• Short-term low-intensity
  residential treatment
• Intensive day
  treatment
• Long-term intensive
  residential treatment
• Addiction Support
  in Acute Care

Dr. David Marsh, MD, CCSAM
Physician Leader, Addiction Medicine, Vancouver Coastal Health / Providence Health Care; Clinical Associate Professor, Department of Health Care and Epidemiology, University of British Columbia.

Dr. Marsh graduated in Medicine from Memorial University of Newfoundland following prior training in neuroscience and pharmacology. In January 2004, Dr. Marsh began serving as the Physician Leader, Addiction Medicine, with Vancouver Coastal Health and Providence Health Care. In this role, he is also Medical Director for Addiction Services, HIV/AIDS Services, and Aboriginal Health for Vancouver Community. Dr. Marsh is also Clinical Associate Professor in the Department of Health Care and Epidemiology, Faculty of Medicine, at the University of British Columbia. Prior to relocating to Vancouver, he was the Clinical Director, Addiction Medicine, at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto.

Dr. Marsh's research interests include the integration of pharmacotherapy and psychotherapy in the treatment of substance use disorders, and focus primarily on novel interventions for opioid dependence. He is presently involved in several research projects, including the North American Opiate Medication Initiative (NAOMI) trial of prescription heroin, an interdisciplinary health research team on illicit opiate dependence in Canada funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, and an evaluation of the Supervised Injection Site in Vancouver.

Mr. Clifton Chow
Research Lead, Youth Addiction Services, Vancouver Coastal Health.

Clifton Chow is the research coordinator for Youth Addictions at Vancouver Coastal Health. His role in the BC Monitoring Project involves the administration and analysis of the high-risk population surveys component. He has a Masters in Family Studies from UBC (2005) with a focus on parent-child interactions. His experience working with drug users includes administering the Vancouver Youth Drug Reporting System (YDRS) to several hundred youth aged 16 to 24. His research interests include youth drug use practices, and the cultural differences in youth drug attitudes.