Yellowknife (Apr 04/03) - There's not enough support in Yellowknife for addicts when they return from treatment elsewhere, testified several key witnesses at the Archie Tsetta inquest last week.

The territorial government spends thousands of dollars sending people to 28-day programs in Hay River or to the South, said Dave Harder, director and programs at the Salvation Army.

But four weeks of treatment cannot wipe away the massive underlying issues that make people turn to alcohol, he said.

People who grow up in troubled homes often develop maladaptive coping skills, he said.

To successfully quit drinking, they need to learn and practice completely new coping skills, which takes time.

But when people return from treatment elsewhere, they are usually tossed back into an environment where all the old problems and temptations exist.

Without long-term support, they are more likely to relapse, he said.

It's sad to see so many dollars going South, he continued, when there are people here with the expertise to develop an excellent recovery program, he said.

Harder recommended re-establishing a detoxification centre near the downtown area where people can stay overnight and seek help when they are most receptive -- after waking up "sick, hung-over and feeling crappy."

Al Woods, CEO of the Stanton Territorial Health Authority and the Yellowknife Health and Social Services Authority, agreed Yellowknife lacks aftercare services.

"In all honesty, where we are really lacking is aftercare," said Woods.

Some people go to treatment seven or eight times and still don't kick the habit, he told the jury.

"They come back full of hope but it just seems to evaporate in one or two days."

Archie Tsetta did get help about three years ago, according to his family.

He stopped drinking for a month, but relapsed because of peer pressure and a lack of support, they said.

Woods believes community-based day programs are a better alternative to 28-day programs, but he doesn't think Yellowknife needs a new detox facility.

Previous facilities closed because of low occupancy rates, he said.

"I don't think we can sit here and say we need another facility. We need to try something different, see if there's another way to help people."

This year, the Department of Health and Social Services begins a program to better integrate addictions services in Yellowknife, said Dana Heide, director of integrated community services at the Department of Health and Social Services.

The department plans to give addictions workers more training, increase their pay, and have them work under a clinical supervisor.

Heide told the jury the department spends $5.4 million of its $65 million budget on services specifically targeted towards addictions.

The department will spend $1.4 million more on this new initiative.

Between 50 and 60 per cent of the people who walk through Health and Social Service's door are dealing with addictions, he said.

If so many people are dealing with these issues, why is such a small portion of the budget allocated to addictions? asked Chief Coroner Percy Kinney.

Heide said the $5.4 million is for programs specifically geared towards addictions.

However, the department also provides other services by paying the salary of physicians and social workers.

However, he did agree addictions services are "sometimes not funded that well" and said a detox centre could provide a safe haven where people with addictions could stop and take stock.