Budget cuts target bus passes for methadone patients

The Department of Social Development is cutting back on a program that offers addicts a free bus pass so they can travel to methadone clinics.

Finance Minister Blaine Higgs has already hinted that he will be looking at whether the province's methadone treatment program is effective.

But in the meantime, the Department of Social Development is sending letters to clients informing them that the bus pass program is being scaled back.

The department has sent a letter to patients indicating they will only get the pass for 18 months as of Dec. 1. Those who have already had it longer than 18 months have until May 1 to make alternate arrangements.

The pass is to make sure addicts can travel to methadone clinics, which are usually at drugstores. 

Julie Dingwell, the executive director of AIDS Saint John, said the provincial government is making a mistake by curtailing the bus pass program.

"The most opportune time to be on methadone is minimally two years. So to cut people off after 18 months flies in the face of best practices," Dingwell said.

The New Brunswick government has asked every department to reassess its operations and find internal cost savings. Many departments have cut back on travel and some have cut positions.

No one from the provincial government responded to a request for comment.

The methadone program has been given support by high-profile individuals.

Saint John Police Chief Bill Reid has, in the past, advocated for expanded access to methadone.

He said in February that violent crimes, such as armed robberies, have dropped 50 per cent, since methadone treatment came to Saint John.

Fears of relapsing

People on income assistance used to be eligible for the bus pass as long as they were getting drug treatment.

Justin Dalling travels by bus to a Saint John pharmacy almost every day for his dose of methadone.

He said he is able to pay for his own bus pass but he said he knows people who cannot afford them and for them it's essential.

"There's no other way people can get up here other than cabs and buses, and if they're on assistance they can't afford that anyway, you know what I mean?" Dalling said.

Dalling said if people cannot access the methadone treatment, they could end up relapsing.

A fear of addicts relapsing is also driving Dingwell to speak out against the proposed change.

The executive director of AIDS Saint John said the decision to limit the bus pass program could have unintended consequences.

"For many of these people that can't access their methadone, if their bus passes have been cut, they're going to end up not being on methadone. And so they're going to go right back to the life that they had before methadone," Dingwell said.

"I don't think that those are practical solutions for New Brunswickers."

Methadone is a synthetic opiate used to treat pain, as well as addictions to opioids, such as heroin, Dilaudid and Oxycontin.

Normally, clients have to go to a drugstore to drink the liquid in front of a pharmacist.