DRUG USE NOT RESTRICTED TO 'BAD GUYS:' ADDICTION WORKER

Some drug users are easy to spot because of the tracks on their arms.
But others are not. "Not all drug addicts are falling down behind a
hotel," said Satch Pearson, a worker with Sudbury Needle Exchange, a
program also known as The Point.

"Some addicts shoot up in the morning, go to work and then come home
again at night to get their fix," he said.

Pearson was among 60 people Tuesday at the 21st annual seminar of the
Sudbury Alcohol and Drug Concerns Coalition. They discussed the facts
and myths of substance use and abuse. There are many misconceptions
about drug addicts, Pearson said.

"The more people talk and learn about drug use, the less alien that
life is."

People commonly believe that drug addicts are crazy, dirty people on
the street and that there's no hope for them, he said.

"It's like, 'They got themselves into it, they should be able to get
themselves out of it.' But we shouldn't be pointing fingers. They need
someone to believe in them," Pearson said. When people first start
using drugs, they believe it won't become a problem.

"Most addicts start using drugs while they're partying," Pearson said.
"People commonly believe they won't get addicted to drugs, that it's
something that happens to other people.

"It starts off with a mistake. The first time it's voluntary, but
after the first time, it isn't voluntary any more. By the time they
find out, it's pretty far down the road."

Perry Kayes, an addiction worker with the Salvation Army Addiction
Rehabilitation Centre, said being judgmental of addicts does not help.
"It's not up to me to decide the bad guys and the good guys," Kayes
said. "My job is to help someone change his or her life." Kayes hopes
Tuesday's seminar will educate addiction workers and the public about
addicts. In Sudbury, he said, alcohol addiction is giving way to drugs
such as crack, cocaine and heroin.