By Sam Borsato - @BorsatoSam on Twitter with files from The Canadian Press

Lethbridge Police Service Applauds Province

Feb 25, 2016 | 8:09 AM

LETHBRIDGE: The Lethbridge Police Service had part of their wish granted by the province following years of lobbying for a detox facility within the city.

The government committed to adding eight detox beds.

Currently, the closest facilities are a social detox in Fort Macleod and a medical detox in Medicine Hat. However, those centres can’t handle the increasing demand.

The Police Service’s role in the project has been to identify the issue in Lethbridge, and they determined that the beds are more than needed.

“We’re quite often the first responders having to deal with people that where they really need to be is in a detox centre but, by default, they wind up incarcerated. Jail is not the solution,” explained Police Chief Rob Davis.

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At this point, LPS doesn’t know how the program will work and says Alberta Health Services will ultimately handle the substance abuse issue.

Inspector Tom Ascroft added that the police service is excited to be part of this. He also hopes AHS can help in the social aspect with new programming.

Davis says that an intox-centre, which is a short-term facility for people to sober up, is the next step.

On Monday, the Alberta government announced it would act immediately on six of 32 recommendations to flow from a review of the province’s addiction and mental health system.

The Mental Health Review was launched last June. Among the six recommendations the province says it will address now is one which seeks the addition of six to eight medical detoxification beds for adults in Lethbridge and 20 beds Red Deer, as well as extra beds for children and youth in Calgary.

Another recommendation will see the government work with First Nations, Metis and Inuit communities to develop an action plan to tackle opiate addictions.