TASK FORCE TAKES ON DRUGS AND ALCOHOL

Meet Niki Kaiser. If you're a parent with young children, Kaiser is
someone you'll definitely want to know.

She's just been hired as the Golden and Area drug and alcohol task
force co-ordinator. While last Monday, Feb. 26, was officially her
first day, she's already got some great ideas for our community. Her
background in psychology make her well prepared for the task, too.

While Kaiser has heard there is a significant drug and alcohol
problem in the community, she is interested in quantifying it.

She says the drug and alcohol task force is actually an extension of
the Crystal Meth Task Force in that it will expand on all drug and
alcohol challenges in the community, rather than focusing on just crystal meth.

"I think my education will help me and I think I have a really good
understanding of the issues and the more you know, the less you judge
people," Kaiser says. "I'm pretty easy going and I love kids. They
have a good instinct, too, and they can learn they can trust me and
that this organization is out for their best interests."

In her role, Kaiser will increase awareness, promote education
strategies and build community capacity to respond to drug and
alcohol related issues. She will explore on-going funding
opportunities, organize and facilitate monthly task force meetings,
build on existing drug and alcohol resources, and collaborate with
community partners.

"The great thing about this task force is there is so much
representation from the schools and the hospital, that we get a lot
of information from the meetings," Kaiser says. "There's a really
great group of people involved already.

"The more community networks can come together and work together, the
greater the whole of the community will be."

Another facet of her role will be to plan and implement educational
drug and alcohol activities. Plans are in the works to have the Town
of Golden declare the week of April 28 as Drug and Alcohol Awareness Week.

"Dr. Gabor Mate, a physician from Vancouver will be coming here; he's
an author as well," Kaiser says. "He has written three books (When
the Body Says No; The Cost of Hidden Stress, Scattered Minds and Hold
on to Your Kids; Why Parents Need to Matter More Than Peers) and his
speech will concentrate primarily on the last book. He can branch off
into so many different fields because he's an expert in the drug and
alcohol field. We want parents to have a good idea of how to stay
involved with their kids' lives once they hit the teenage years, and
why it is important to do that."

She says that's part of the role of the task force. She says it's not
enough to know that kids are doing drugs; we need to know why. And
the events to be held the last week of April won't just be for
parents. She says anyone involved with children can benefit.

Kaiser says the task force is a community organization and as such,
the more feedback or comments she can get, the more successful the
task force will be.