As B.C. remains in the grips of a toxic drug crisis the families of those with addictions are going to extreme lengths to keep their loved ones safe.
“You’d do anything you need to for your kids. You have to. I just didn’t want her to be a statistic,” Greg Loshny told Global News, speaking of his 23-year-old daughter who is currently in a treatment facility for her addiction.
He asked that her name not be shared in order to respect her privacy.
Loshny explains his daughter began experimenting with street drugs in her teenage years but her reliance on substances became heavier after the death of her beloved grandfather.
Knowing the dangers of the situation on the street for anyone using drugs, Loshny said he made a deal with his daughter.
She was to stay and use at home and in exchange, he would help her find clean drugs.
“For a month and a half I was literally out with her every night, ‘scoring’,” he said.
They did this while simultaneously looking for a treatment bed for her at a rehabilitation facility.
“Everywhere we went there was a waitlist, “ Loshny explained.
The family described the application process for a place on a publicly-funded treatment bed as deplorable – adding it felt like continuously running into a “bureaucratic wall.”
Eventually, a spot opened up at Westminster House Society in New Westminster, however, it would be a private bed at a cost of $5,000.
“If they wanted my car I would have given it to them. I would have given them my house,” Loshny explained.
Westminster House Society offers addiction recovery and treatment programs focusing on youth girls and women.
According to its Executive Director Susan Hogarth, the facility offers 14 provincially funded beds and 14 private beds.
She explains the intake staff has no control over who receives the publicly-funded spaces.
“That is done by the Fraser Health Authority,” Hogarth said. “But we can provide a private option for families if they have ability to pay for it.”
According to B.C’s Ministry of Mental Health and Addictions, there are 3,203 adult and youth funded community substance use beds across the province.
The province does not have an available statistic or estimate on how long the waitlist to access these beds currently is.
The ministry said any estimates on wait times would not be accurate because people reach out for help through a variety of channels.
During an interview with Global News, Minister Sheila Malcolmson acknowledged these waitlists while adding, “we’re trying very hard to build up, by adding more publically funded beds.”
As these waitlists remain long the crisis continues.
According to B.C.’s illicit drug overdose death report, 165 more people died from toxic drugs in March of 2022, equating to approximately 5.3 deaths per day.
Each day families like the Loshnys are now struggling with the difficult decision of choosing private care to get their children into care at great costs.
“That is completely unacceptable,” said Trevor Halford, BC Liberal MLA for Surrey-White Rock and Official Opposition Critic for Mental Health and Addictions.
“We’ve heard from moms and dads who are actually taking out second mortgages on their homes to provide treatment for their family members. This government announces beds, what they don’t do is open them.”
Kathleen Radu lost her son 26-year-old son Morgan Goodridge to a toxic drug overdose in 2020.
She estimates her family spent more than $80,000 on private treatment in a span of 18-months.
“You would do anything for your child,” said Radu.
She explained that when a child has an addiction it becomes a family disease.
“We keep talking about this being a health crisis, why doesn’t it fall under the umbrella of access to treatment. Right away when someone is ready to get into treatment they should have access immediately.”