Youth want homes, jobs, friends before treatment for substances

published on December 12, 2022 by Maria Rantanen in Vancouver is Awesome

Young people struggling with drugs don’t necessarily want treatment before they have the rest of their lives figured out, namely housing, employment and romantic relationships.

When they access treatment without dealing with these issues first, leaving treatment often means going back to the social conditions that triggered their substance use, explained Danya Fast, a research scientist with the BC Centre on Substance Use and a professor at UBC’s Department of Medicine.

“However, in the absence of desirable housing and adequate income, youth were often left with the crushing sense that, despite their efforts, treatment would not ultimately help them to ‘get somewhere better,’” the report noted.

Since 2016, 1,600 people in B.C. under the age of 30 have lost their lives to drug overdoses or drug poisonings…