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Crisis worker Amanda Guldiman has watched the same series of events repeated time and again as crystal methamphetamine continues to ravage users.

While there are counsellors and treatment options available to people who are referred to those services through hospital emergency room care, they often have to wait weeks to actually get into facilities like the Dube Centre or Calder Centre, Guldiman said.

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She sees it as an indication of the health care system lacking capacity to respond to the explosion of crystal meth use in Saskatoon’s growing population.

“So continues the cycle,” said Guldiman, who is a member of the Police and Crisis Team (PACT) unit alongside Saskatoon police Const. Darryl Holowachuk.

As the population grows, care centres can’t keep up, and hospitals and police detention cells may not be the most appropriate resource for helping people who use meth, she said.

Saskatoon city police partnered with the Saskatoon Crisis Intervention Service and the Saskatoon Health Region’s Mental Health and Addiction Services to create PACT. The unitis dispatched to emergency calls that involve mental health or addictions related issues. The teams can divert cases away from the justice system and toward treatment and care.