Health Minister Michael Murphy announced on Monday a new methadone program in Saint John that will allow opiate addicts to refer themselves for treatment.

Unlike existing methadone programs in the province, patients at the new clinic can self-refer and obtain treatment without counselling.

The chief of the Saint John police, Bill Reid, has been pushing for more access to methadone services as a way to curtail crime in the city.

Reid said 75 per cent of the city's crime is related to drugs.

Julie Dingwell, the executive director of AIDS Saint John, said she's thrilled about the new program and praised both Reid and the provincial government for the decision to start the program.

"This is enormous. I feel such a sense of relief today. I can only imagine what an opiate user who needs this program must feel like, because I am elated today," Dingwell said.

"Really so much credit [should go to] Chief Bill Reid — what other police chief in the world goes out on a limb like that?"

Clinic will open in summer

Dingwell said the program should be operating out of the Mercantile Centre by late June or early July, and that it should eliminate the waiting list for methadone treatment in a matter of weeks.

Methadone is a drug used to treat people with addictions to opiate drugs such as heroin and morphine.

The Saint John methadone program has been plagued by long waiting lists for several years.

The Department of Health's statistics indicate 163 people are participating in the Ridgewood Addictions Services Treatment Centre in Saint John, while 93 people are on the waiting list.

Murphy said four physicians are now working 57 hours a month at the Ridgewood facility, but the department will increase that to 66 hours per month at the centre. Murphy said the increase will allow more people to be assessed and prescribed methadone for their addictions.

Murphy said he believes counselling along with methadone treatment is the best treatment to beat addiction, but he said not all clients can sign up for those programs.

"As a result, we have removed the requirement that addictions services clients here and elsewhere in the province must take part in mandatory counselling in order to be eligible for methadone treatment," Murphy said in a statement.

According to a Health Department report outlining its methadone treatment policies, it costs approximately $6,000 a year to treat a person with methadone, compared with the $49,000 an untreated addict costs a community because of related crime and other social costs.