'Alarming' rise in meth and IV drug use by Edmonton youth

Alberta Health Services says frontline workers are noticing an "alarming" increase in use of intravenous drugs and methamphetamine among youth.

"When I talk to our frontline staff, we are seeing an alarming increase in meth and in IV drug use amongst kids," said Mark Snaterse, AHS executive director of addiction and mental health for the Edmonton zone. "That's a disturbing trend that we're beginning to see."

Snaterse said most hard drug users start with alcohol and marijuana and then graduate to injectables and methamphetamine.

"So to see meth use or IV drug use in youth, it is alarming because it means that for some of them, that actually might be early on in their drug use," he explained, adding it was too early to provide numbers. "We're tracking that very closely to see if that continues."

Injectables include narcotics, heroin or methamphetamine. Known on the streets as pint, meth is highly addictive. It has a strong effect on the central nervous system but the rush can be followed by agitation and violence.

Earlier this week, AHS announced the opening of a new children's mental health centre in south Edmonton that will also provide treatment for addictions.

It's part of the health authority's efforts to decrease wait times for youth requiring mental health treatment. In a three-month period earlier this year, only 41 per cent of children in the Edmonton zone of AHS were receiving treatment within 30 days of a referral.

Short wait times for youth drug treatment

But access to drug treatment is much faster. Youth can enter outpatient clinics and intensive day treatment programs within 24 to 48 hours while residential treatment beds have a maximum wait of three to four weeks in the fall and spring, and often instant access at other times of the year.

"We certainly see the most success when we're able to offer an intervention and a treatment as early as possible with youth," said Snaterse.

In the past few years, the numbers of youth seeking drug treatment has remained consistent at about 2,000 per year, said Snaterse. But the stability of those numbers doesn't mean there isn't an increase in substance use, he cautioned.

AHS sends counsellors into schools and agencies that target youth. The health authority also provides outpatient clinics and services, intensive day treatment programs, and short and long-term treatment beds.

The median age of those seeking treatment is 15, but patients have been as young as 11.

Youth worker Mark Cherrington said while he's seeing ecstasy, mushrooms and even a resurgence of phencyclidine, better known as angel dust, among his clients, there is a lot of methamphetamine use, similar to what he saw in 2000.

"It really affects the mental health aspect," said Cherrington. "It alters your personality significantly for long periods of time"

Cherrington questioned the consistent numbers of youth seeking treatment from AHS.

"If their numbers are stagnant, that's in contrast to what I'm seeing and to me that might be a red flag," he said. "If they have plateaued in who they're reaching out to, they might be missing a lot of people."

While he praised the work of AHS, he said more innovative, diverse approaches are needed. He suggested shifting some funding to nonprofit agencies so they can develop programs to meet the specific needs of their clientele.

As the popularity of fentanyl grows, both Cherrington and Snaterse said they are not seeing a corresponding rise among youth in any significant way.