Saskatchewan needs compassionate, public drug treatment policies

Our letter to the editor published in the Leader-Post on Feb 1.

Murray Mandryk’s Jan 27 column entitled “Saskatchewan’s new drug treatment centre not providing answers” on the Willowview Recovery Centre raises questions about the province’s approaches to substance use and health-care privatization.

I agree that the demonization of harm reduction services and more effective policy has been a political choice. It throws struggling people under the bus to score political points. It makes it harder to reduce the stigma around the issue.

I’d argue that the “past approaches” Mandryk referred to has involved the province doing very little, given the scale of the problem, and ignoring solutions proven to work, save lives and be more cost effective.

Neglecting a program also makes it easier to claim ineffectiveness and pave the way for privatization. More public awareness and scrutiny of this is required.

The new “recovery model” focus has seen huge support by the for-profit treatment industry wanting contracts — EHN Canada, which runs Willowview among them. How much is EHN being paid compared with a publicly run facility?

A range of treatment and harm reduction support is needed. It must be evidence based, well regulated and publicly or non-profit delivered to remove profit motives.  Substance use needs to be considered a public health issue — rather than a criminal concern —to be effectively addressed.

There are too many lives at stake to continue to dismiss proven solutions and undermine our public health-care system.