It has not been the best of times for Estevan as of late.
We’ve had to deal with news about job losses at the mines, the plunging price of oil and now the fear and uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic, in addition to a number of other issues that have surfaced in the community.
So you can understand why people in the Energy City were pretty excited to hear that an addictions treatment centre will be returning to St. Joseph’s Hospital after an absence of 24 years.
Frankly, you have to wonder why the NDP pulled the plug on our old addictions treatment centre nearly a quarter century ago.
Estevan had an addiction treatment centre long before the current St. Joseph’s Hospital was built. It was a big part of the old St. Joseph’s on First Street, and now it’s going to be a big part of the current hospital once again.
This facility will specialize in the treatment of those suffering from a crystal meth addiction. It’s no secret that methamphetamines are a problem in Estevan and many other communities throughout the Prairie provinces.
We’ve seen crystal meth rear its head time after time, especially in the past couple of years, with charges for trafficking and possession regularly appearing in police reports. The drug is cheap and it’s accessible, and it’s highly addictive.
Some in this community like to talk about how this is an Estevan-only issue, but it’s not. And while you can be sure there will be people from the Estevan area in this facility, there will be patients from other parts of the province staying there as well.
This specialized clinic will also have a few spots for those who have an addiction other than meth.
Having a place where people can come and receive treatment should be a big part of the government’s drug strategy. We need to have laws in place to combat drugs and create a deterrent so that people don’t use hard narcotics. This is not the time to consider decriminalizing or legalizing all drugs, like the feds have done with recreational use of marijuana.
But if we want to get people off of drugs, if we want them to move past their addiction, we need to have treatment options. And it needs to be individualized. The days of having a one size fits approach are over.
It would be easy to be skeptical about whether this facility will be completed this year; after all, the provincial revenues are likely to be far from what they were supposed to be. It’s not just because of the steep decline in the price of oil and other natural resources that the provincial revenues will take a hit, it’s because this COVID-19 is going to have a much larger impact on our economy, and will affect everything from provincial sales tax revenues to jobs to the size of the province’s business community.
We’ve needed this facility for a long time. The government seems to recognize that.
And since meth is a problem in so many communities, the government would be wise to open a clinic that specializes in treatment as soon as possible.
The hospital is confident that this centre will be open for this year. We can only hope that’s the case. It’s going to bring talented people to the community to work there.
And most important of all, it’s going to help people get back on their feet.
It’s a nice little reprieve from all the bad news, too.
