DRUG ABUSE IS SERIOUS

Dear Editor:

Attending the West Van forum on substance abuse on Thursday, April
26, was high on my priority list last week. As a parent of a son who
is working "one day at a time" to free himself from the grasp of drug
addiction, I certainly have a vested interest. Unfortunately I could
not make the 7 p.m. start and walked in when Dr. Ross Geddes was
speaking.

Admittedly I only caught the last five minutes of his presentation,
but the laughter resonating around the auditorium seemed oddly out of
place. The journalist who wrote the report picked out the two
comments that stuck in my mind for several days ... the two most
dangerous drugs in his mind (Geddes) were alcohol and testosterone
(hence the hoots of laughter) and, "Occasionally I have parents come
in dragging their kids by the scruff of their necks demanding the
children get a drug test," said Geddes, "and that's really not
appropriate."

What I find inappropriate is the making light of the heartache that
is felt by people who feel powerless and are forced to stand by and
watch as their child slides down the often referred to "slippery
slope." My son would not agree to be drug tested and as he had all
the rights my husband and I could do nothing. However, when he
eventually went into a residential D+A program on his second day he
was taken to a doctor and given a full range of tests for everything
imaginable.

I praise the Ruttans, the parents of an addicted son, for their
courage to speak and relay a deeply touching account of the problems
encountered by their family. They stressed the importance of
communication at all levels, including being open and honest to other
people, which can help alleviate the guilt many parents feel because
of a child's addiction.

Susan Haga
North Vancouver