Meth addictions have government’s attention: Manitoba health minister
WINNIPEG — Manitoba’s health minister says there is evidence that people with addictions in the province are turning to methamphetamines.
“Clearly there is evidence that people are migrating to meth — it is cheap, it is easy to produce, it is widely available in our communities,” Cameron Friesen said Tuesday.
An advisory note to the minister of health obtained by the Manitoba New Democratic Party through a freedom-of-information request said the number of people entering treatment at publicly funded centres for meth addiction had increased 700 per cent since 2012 — from 102 to 744.
It also showed Addictions Foundation of Manitoba’s numbers for people seeking help for amphetamine use jumped from 3.8 per cent to 8.5 per cent between 2014 and 2016.