Addiction Services re-evaluated their programme in July this year and has shifted further toward providing treatment for drug abusers, rather than educating the community in the prevention of drug abuse, according to coordinator Mr. Bryant Richards. "We have redistributed our manpower and we are not putting as much emphasis on prevention,'' he said. "The NDC (National Drug Commission) has taken that over. We are focusing more on treatment.'' Addiction Services, a division of the Ministry of Health, which opened in February of 1980, runs an outpatient treatment programme for both male and female drug abusers. "Most people we come across are poly-addicted,'' noted Mr. Richards. "If someone comes in who is primarily addicted to alcohol, we would refer them to the Montrose Substance Abuse Centre, where they are better equipped to work with alcoholics. "We work closely with other agencies like Montrose as well as the Salvation Army, Fairhavens, etc.,'' he said. Clients are often referred to Addiction Services by the Employee Assistance Programme, family members, their workplace and the courts. Many people also walk-in off the street, said Mr. Richards, adding that drug abusers come from all walks of life. Addiction Services is now concentrating on areas involved with treatment like working with the substance abusers' families and talking about issues which may relate to the clients' abuse. "We make sure they get the proper counselling regarding abuse issues,'' said Mr. Richards. "And if they need something that we can't offer, we will refer them. We try to link the client up with any agency that best meets the needs of them.'' Any medical treatment required by the client is usually administered through the hospital. Addiction Services does, however, have a methadone programme, which helps addicts get off of heroin. Methadone does not solve the drug problem, warned Mr. Richards, but it does take care of the physical addiction. And the client is slowly weaned off of the methadone. "Addicts must deal with the rationale behind why they're doing the drug in the first place,'' he said. "Many people who come to the programme for the first time don't succeed but they usually learn something. The second time, they may settle down and become more receptive to the methodology of the programme. "Many clients live clean for several months and then they have a relapse. It may take them three or four times before they get it right,'' he said. "Others are very successful because they are in the right frame of mind to get it right and get off the drugs.'' Mr. Richards said he has seen a major shift from cocaine use to heroin use in the past four years. "Heroin is the drug of choice at present so we're seeing a lot of people who are addicted to heroin,'' he said, noting that most people tend to smoke or snort heroin rather than shoot it nowadays. Addiction Services provides an outpatient programme where clients attend group sessions. As well, they have a family support group called the Family In Recovery Support Team, which discusses drug education. "We also give individual counselling daily, bi-weekly and monthly depending on the needs of the person,'' said Mr.

Richards. There are about 78 active clients attending Addiction Services, 50 of which are on methadone. As well, ten to 15 additional people attend the programmes monthly or bi-annually. The average age of clients who attend Addiction Services is 22, said Mr. Richards. And approximately 75 to 80 Crime and violence increases at Addiction Services programme in crime and violence by those involved in the programme, a fact that Mr.

Richards attributes to the changing times. "It's in part due to the young and immatureness of the clientele,'' he said. "The group tries to steal methadone and the staff get more threats from clients than ever before. "These people have no values, they are angry and they just don't care anymore. What we try to do is find out why they are angry. We try to address their anger and sometimes it's not rational.'' The staff at Addiction Services, which includes a nurse, who runs the methadone programme, two counsellors, a secretary and Mr. Richards, must be especially careful in handling their clients. "We must be astutely aware of what we're addressing. Also, we have to make sure that people don't have any weapons on them. "We're not panicking, we're just cautious,'' said Mr. Richards, "because we know our clients are changing. We know they don't care as long as they get what they want so we must approach the programme from that point of view.'' He added: "We as a community have a part to play. It's difficult to get these young people to take charge of their own lives. They don't want to and they're not interested in being responsible for their actions. But we have to encourage them to do things like stay in school. "And we have to decide whether we're a part of the problem or a part of the solution -- if we're not a part of the solution, then we're a part of the problem,'' he said. PHOTO ADDICTION SERVICES -- Coordinator Mr. Bryant Richards said the programme is working further toward treatment, rather than education for drug abusers.

DRUG PARAPHERNALIA -- Needles are not used very often in Bermuda today, but they used to be the number one way to take heroin. Drug users typically snort or smoke both cocaine and heroin nowadays.