Teenage drug addicts in northwestern B.C. will soon have to travel hundreds of kilometres from home for treatment, after the Northern Health region decided to close the only residential youth treatment program in the region.
The Atlas Youth Treatment Facility in Terrace will close Dec. 31, meaning youths from small towns and aboriginal communities will have to travel up to 500 kilometres for drug treatment in Prince George.
Sandy Watson, an addictions counsellor at the Terrace facility, said sending addicts as young as 12 to a distant city will likely deter youth from entering a rehabilitation program.
"Without Atlas, they're having to look at a long trip to Prince George to receive this type of service, and this opportunity may be lost during this trip, and this service being so far away from their home, their family, what they know," said Watson.
A community forum on the closure was scheduled for Wednesday afternoon at the Kermode Friendship Centre.
Northern Health has already closed residential drug treatment programs for adults and for mothers with young children.
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