Are there Effective Treatments for Drug Addiction in Alberta?

Alberta is perhaps the richest province in Canada with every person having plenty of money to indulge in their favorite pastime. With a thriving job market, with high salary, such moneyed people are in the age group of 20 to 40. Unlimited money in hand, with various possibilities of spending it, makes these people lose their sense of proportion and perception. The unfortunate result has been the high incidence of drug addiction. Very strong narcotics like marijuana, crack, cocaine etc are very commonly used and addiction has reached alarming proportion with lots of people having to be admitted to rehabilitation centers. It has reached a stage that the existing number of rehabilitation centers are not enough to cope with problem. The pressure is so high that a person is kept at the centers only for a maximum period of 21 days. There are very long waiting lists.

Alcoholics Anonymous, Narcotics Anonymous, The Salvation Army and the Government have been trying to meet the shortage of rooms in rehab centers. The long waiting list even for making an assessment have resulted in many families getting shattered and people losing their jobs. Only the Government run centers keep patients for more than 21 days. This is a very costly affair running to thousands of dollars every month and ordinary people cannot afford to get treatment there. The Government has withdrawn subsidies to less costly centers. Though not as costly as the Government centers they also charge heavily and people needing rehabilitation find the going tough.

A new form of treatment called intervention is being tried in Alberta. Patient get admitted to a center Substance Abuse Facility, family members prefer this place because it helps in preparing the patient to get out of the habit voluntarily with the help of trained professional. The basic cause for the problem is the loose money and targeting the place by drug consortiums.