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| Hans-Günter Meyer-Thompson | International

Kanada. B.C. methadone patients pen guide for users of opioid-substitution program

VANCOUVER -- Had Al Fowler known more about his rights before enrolling in British Columbia's methadone treatment program in 2010, he may have avoided what he describes as a two-year "horror-show" while living in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside.

Fowler says the stigma and exploitation he experienced is part of what inspired him to co-author a handbook on how to navigate the province's opioid-substitution therapy program.

(...) Bill Nelles, a retired addiction counsellor based on Vancouver Island, said the handbook attempts to show the provincial government that people in drug-recovery programs want to be involved in matters that concern them.

"You may have heard, 'Nothing about us without us,' " said Nelles, who has been on a methadone program for 40 years. "But we're not there yet." (ctvnews.ca, Kanada, 15.02.2017)

http://www.ctvnews.ca/health/b-c-methadone-patients-pen-guide-for-users-of-opioid-substitution-program-1.3286115