Drug addiction 'rampant,' says volunteer in wake of Ron Hynes death

Jeff Bourne didn't need toread Joel Thomas Hynes's pointed Facebook post about the grip of his uncle's addictions to realize there's a gap in the system for those trying to kick their drug dependence.

• Ron Hynes's nephew Joel Thomas Hynes says addiction killed musical legend

Bourne, who runs U-Turn Drop-in Centre in Carbonear, said addiction in Newfoundland and Labrador is "rampant."

He was respondingto the comments made by Hynes, a recovering addict himself, who said his famed uncle Ron Hynes was killed by his addiction, even though he had been battling cancer.

'It's getting worse everyday'

"I read [Thomas Hynes's post]and I got really teary eyed, and at the same timeon Facebook I got an inbox message from a friend of mine that I've been dealing with now the last year and a half and he pretty much told me that he can't fight no more," Bourne told the St. John's Morning Show Thursday.

"He's at the end of his road."

While the provincial governmenthas put money towards addictions and mental health services in recent years, Bourne said addicts are still falling through the cracks.

"It's getting worse everyday," said Bourne, who has operated the addictions counseling centre for four years.

"The age [of users] getyounger and the severity of people using what they're using is getting worse dayby day."

More money

In Hynes's Facebook post, which has been shared widely, the musician, writer and actor demanded that the Newfoundland and Labrador governmentdo more for those struggling with drugs.

"With all that money came more drugs than our little island could possibly cope with. And after all that nothing has been done we're in a recession now for another ten years," wroteHynes.

Bourne believes money is a factor, but also points to the effect that drug testing in Alberta and in the offshore industry has on drug use.

"If you did a binge of cocaine for the first week you're home, well,the second week it [kind of] goes out of your system," he said.

"But if you smoke a draw of weedit takes 90 days for that to come out of your system."