Although some initiatives within the provincial government's new "Project Hope" will be underway by October, it is "not acceptable" that the government is following a three-year timetable with their plan to combat addiction, says Weyburn-Big Muddy MLA Brenda Bakken.

"One of my major concerns is that (the recommendations concerning) residential services/treatment services are not going to be followed up until 2007-2008," said Bakken, in an interview on Friday. "While this is going on, we see children and young people's lives being destroyed, families being torn apart. There's no time to wait."

Bakken said the provincial government already spent a year denying there was any problem with crystal meth, and were only forced into action by the vocal protests of parents and families affected by addiction. It is unacceptable that further waiting is necessary.

For example, if space is needed for treatment centres, there are already numerous facilities within Saskatchewan that could be utilized; even Souris Valley, which once housed a number of long-term care beds, could be used. There's no need to "re-invent the wheel" by putting off the expansion of services by two or three years, she said.

Having spoken with experts and others where crystal meth is becoming an increasing problem, she said being pro-active early is the best hope for quashing the problem.

Referring to a discussion she had with a U.S. Senator from Kansas, Bakken said that "if there was one thing (they) could have done differently they would have been pro-active and try to get ahead before there was so much harm and damage done."

"Project Hope," a new three-year plan to prevent and treat substance abuse, was announced Thursday by Premier Lorne Calvert. While stopping the increasing problem of crystal meth abuse is the focus of some recommendations, the project aims at reducing all forms of substance abuse.

To fast-track the plan, the government is topping up the $4.7 million already in the provincial budget this year for addiction with an additional annual investment of $10 million.

"We are taking this problem very seriously. Alcohol, substance abuse, drug abuse and now the new factor of crystal meth are destroying the future of many of our young people," said Calvert.

All recommendations within Project Hope were based on the report "Healthy Choices in a Healthy Community," by Graham Addley, Legislative Secretary on Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment.

On the prevention side, the report calls for the creation of a new Alcohol and Drug Abuse Prevention and Education Directorate within the Department of Health. This new body's responsibility will be to co-ordinate strategies for substance abuse prevention and education across the province, an ability that was lost when addiction services were melded with mental health at the RHA level, said Premier Lorne Calvert in a Thursday news conference.

The government is also aiming at de-normalizing current attitudes about alcohol abuse. There seems to be a permissive attitude that underage drinking is "a rite of passage," and that illicit drug use may be condoned, said Addley.

This can be accomplished by trying to reduce unaccompanied minors in bars and pool halls, increasing penalties for people providing alcohol to underage drinkers and reviewing minimum pricing standards for retail and on-table service of all beverage alcohol.

That last recommendation may sound like a call to hike the prices on all alcohol, such as the government did with tobacco products, but Addley said it is about targeting those products that are low in price but high in alcohol content, which encourages binge drinking.

Regarding treatment, the plan calls for the development of a new 15-bed long-term inpatient facility in Prince Albert, in co-operation with First Nations and the federal government.

However, Bakken said it was a bad idea to place this centre in Prince Albert. The logic behind its location seems to be the growing problem of addiction within northern Saskatchewan, but experts she has spoken with agree such centres should be removed from where drugs are available to those being treated.

Project Hope also recommends 12 new beds for youth stabilization in Saskatoon, doubling the brief detox capacity in the province and expanding social detox capacity in Prince Albert to relieve pressure on Saskatoon and Regina.

Addley's report also states that the current model for treatment of addiction in Saskatchewan is not effective and is not reflective of current best practices. To that end, a more flexible community treatment model, with considerations towards First Nations culture, is required.

On the crystal meth front, the report calls for re-classifying methamphetamines within the Controlled Drug and Substances Act (CSDA) and enhancing the penalties for meth possession and trafficking.

"The penalties for conviction of an offense involving the production or distribution of crystal meth should at least be as significant a penalty for heroine or cocaine," said Calvert. "I intend to go next week to the Premier's Conference in Alberta and lobby my colleagues to join with us in pressing the federal government to make that change."

It also calls for building on the MethWatch program, a partnership of retailers and manufacturers who monitor suspicious sales of household products used to produce crystal meth.

The government will also better promote the toll-free hotline for reporting drug abuses, and form a specially-trained, multi-disciplinary team whose purpose is to investigate and dismantle clandestine lab sites.

Addley's report also calls for better data and research to guide policy-making, including the appointment of a research chair at the U of S, and the accreditation of addiction service workers.

One area not addressed in the report is the treatment of youth who are resistant or unwilling to seek treatment, because a set of recommendations are expected in the fall regarding this issue.

Addley said that he has learned that voluntary treatment, or treatment that is undertaken because of a court mandate, is far more effective than forcibly treating addicted persons. This is shown in statistical and anecdotal evidence.

"I did raise this issue with a number of young people that are recovering (from substance abuse). I said, 'What would happen if we had that on the books?' They said, 'Well, we would have moved to Calgary, or we would have run away to Vancouver.'"