The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

ýEnsuring9 adequat..e and. affoedable drug and.alchdtreatment iOntario. By Drummamd White Muich -atteiition bas recently beon given 1by the prosa ta the n"o for affordable, substance abuse treatment centres n a respanve health caro systm. Our health car syÈtem has been thratened by the federal cutbacks and 'decreasing .reven os during the. present recossion . Rogardioss, as a >overnment, ar comnitment ta high quality eath ca rrmains unalterable &.at cirécumstances make it obviaus that wo cannot affSrd waste iOur systemn. 1 >While real increases in coit mustb. paid,, savings shauld. also be achieved where possible. One way af realizing such savings is by invesing Ontaria manies-in Ontario treatment facilities, and not in U.S. facilities wlxere some $51 million ws spent- over the. past, year alane on »'Ontario drug and alcohol abuser. Ontaria facilities are arguably the best on the continent a 1 d offer services here at a much lesser coet than Arnerican centres.. Additionaly, it is impossible for there ta b. effective faniily treatment and- aftercare for Ontario residents who have' attended treatment centres far away in the United States. These services are of equal importance ta substance abuse treatment as are the 28-day i-patienit programs. You may wander why -so many Ontarians bave been referred ta 28-day programs i theUUited States, sud assume that penhaps there is sometbi ng better about themn. Frequently, the. referral: ta these programs cornes as a result of paid bead-hunters who receive a commission ta refer clients. These are non-professionals wha bave set up offices throughout the province sud prey upon patients sud their fanilies. Lait, week, I heard testimony before the. Public Accounts Committee. of the Ontario Legislature. Two paets of diffrent adolescents told the. comnittee how these h -hunter had taken' advantage of their depeaton and -their ignorance of local _programis. After those Arnerican. progranis had failed ta yield effective results, their children were successfully treated ber. in Southern Ontaria. Head-hunters such as, these do not in any way add ta -the quality of the health car. that is provided and their chief pursuit As a- coission froen their referral sud not the cure that their ,cients so.desperately seek. Recently, the. governinent bas set up a Drug sud Alcohol Registry of-Treatment (DART) that has a complet. list of treatmnent services in Ontarioansd their availability on a daily basis. Through a 1-800 phono cali, suy professional i Ontario can b. told of the nearest treatment-facxhty that bas an apening, sud receive advice as ta the range of localsrie htmyb available for a patient. In Durham, w. are fortunate ta have several substance abuse centres available ta us locally sud they will b. included Wi the, registry. Additionally, aur provincial health systemn is well served by capable, trained sud caring professianals, moet of whomn are educated in-aur own province. This registry will also help the Ministry of Héalth by telling of the daily demand for treatment sud by cuttig the. cost of treatment here. If a doctor wishes ta refer toans American facility as the, appropriate service is truly not available here, they can verify this through the. registry, sud 0H11> will reimiburse for those legitimate cots. 0H11> will not freely reimburse the csts of every California treatment centre out of the taxpayer's pocket.. For the very small cst of administering tis registry, the. treatment services of Ontario have been greatly improved. At the sanie time, the. taxpayers of Ontario know that they are getting an increased value for their bard-earned dollars. Jf Uniqu dcsinsý 4i WBm'Ey pRýpPRS8%WBDNESD)AY, NOVEMBER 27,191, PAGE 71 PAGE SVEN QueenWE 6ParkAReport ASHLURN PUBLIC SCHOOL CLASS, C. 1910 ITe Asiiburn Community Centre was a public sciiool for School Section Number 7, Whitby Township from c.-'1861 ta 1967. It is the only stane school house in Whitby, built by William Pearson, as master stone mason, wiio lived in Asiiburn. Whîtby Archives photo 10 YrEARS AGO from tiie Wednesday,-November 25, 1981 edition of the. WHITBY FREE PRESS * Councillor Barry Evans is objecting ta a mural of a Florida scene on a downtown building. * A conference on employing the. disabled will b. iield at tii. municipal building on Dec. 1. *West Lynde Comnxunity Association is distributing pétitions protesting higii interest rates, to b. sent to the federal goverrnent. *DenisO'Connor High School students raised $32,500 for financial support of their school in the. seventh annual DOC-a-thon. 25 YEARS AGO from the. Thursday, November 24, 1966 edition of the ITBMY WEEKLY NEWS *McNamara Marine is expsuding its facilities at Port Whitby. V idening of Dundas St. ta four Isues froni Brock St. ta Oshawa will b. completed in three weeks. * The. Town of'Whitby wants the Central Ontario Planning Board ta undertake a traffic study. " Fifleen outdoor skating rinks will b. established.in Whitby this winter. 75 YEARS AGO from the. Thursday, November. 23, 1916 edition of the WHTB GAZETIE AND CIRONICLE- * A Board of Trade bas been organized in Whitby with Albert W. Jackson as president. " A bouman sd lot on Byron St. S. were sold at auction for $1,250. " David Burns of Brooklin bas publisiied a book of bis latest poems. " The. 182nd Battalion brasa band is touring Ontario County, raising înoney for the Regimental Fund. -q m- 1 1 ým