AN OUNCE OF PREVENTION

There's decidedly something scary about holding a point of heroin in your hand.

Even if it is inside a sealed RCMP bag, intended for educational purposes
only, it is uncomfortable to simply hold drugs in your hands. It makes you
feel as if they might just jump down your veins and turn your life into a
blindfolded walk through a minefield.

To feel uncomfortable handling potentially lethal drugs is normal. But to
avoid learning about drugs - what they are, how they work, what they look
like, and how to know if your children are using them - is akin to turning
your back on a wild and dangerous animal.

Kids are taught to 'Just Say No', but sometimes they 'just say yes'.

For parents who don't know the difference between an acid tab and a pokemon
trading card, it's time to get educated and to know the signs that could
indicate your young person is using drugs.

One of the first things to look for in a suspected drug user is major
behavioural change.

Local addictions counsellor Sue Balderston suggests that keeping an eye on
what's happening with kids at school is a good starting point.

"School is a good place to start," she said. "Look at their grades and
watch for any big changes. Changing friends is also very common. They might
start hanging out with kids who are two or three years older than them or
who aren't in school anymore. They also might not want you to meet their
friends."

Balderston said when kids start to get in trouble at school, with the law
and at home, and have a general disregard for rules, it may indicate
experimentation with drug use.

"As parents, you might find yourselves frantically imposing curfews when
before you never needed them," said Balderston. "This can happen even when
parents have had close relationships with their kids and had good
communication, but all of a sudden things change."

"Parents can start to feel very volatile."

The minute a young person gets started in a pattern of drug use, their
lives are changed, and that change is usually reflected in a number ways.

They often change the way they dress and their room decoration , and they
may care less about their personal hygiene.

Some people who use marijuana frequently lack ambition and that can be
directly linked to the drug's effect on the part of the brain that actually
causes ambition, according to Balderston.

"When a young person gets involved in drugs they might take on an 'I don't
care' attitude," she explained. "A young person who has been very active in
sports might stop participating or things that might have really mattered
before might not matter as much to them anymore."

A young person's financial situation can also be an indicator that
something is wrong.

If a child is working, but is constantly borrowing money, and never has any
material item to show for it, they could be using their part-time job to
fuel a drug habit.

By the same token, kids who always seem to be bringing home expensive items
that they try explain away as a 'good deal' could be involved in selling drugs.

By keeping on top of behavioural changes, parents can avoid taking steps
they really don't want to in order to find out if their child has a drug
problem.

"If you want to know if your kids are using drugs, the best way to get the
answer is by talking to them," Balderston advised. "They are the ones who
are going to tell you the most about what's going on with them."

Resorting to violation of a young person's privacy is something Balderston
cautions parents about, but suggests that if a parent thinks their child
has a serious problem, they have to use their judgment as parents, to know
how far to go.

"It's really hard to know how far is too far for parents to go," Balderston
said. "I certainly wouldn't condone parents reading their children's diaries."

The decision to violate a child's privacy by rifling through their personal
belongings or reading personal diaries is difficult, but if a child's
safety is at risk, sometimes parents are forced into taking such drastic
measures.

For parents who have found enough behavioural signs to suspect their child
may be involved in a dangerous drug situation and plan to investigate the
home or clothing, hiding places range from the dead obvious to the absolute
ingenious.

The sock drawer and under the mattress are still used, but also try looking
for false pop cans with twist off tops that make perfect stash spots. Film
canisters, or anything else that provides a tight seal, are used to store
unrolled marijuana, because they keep the strong smell and moisture
contained. Rolled marijuana cigarettes are sometimes stored in cigarette
packages.

Before starting a drug search, it's important to know what to look for.

An old looking spoon, beer caps or an old shoelace might not look like drug
paraphernalia, but they can be.

As for the drugs themselves, each has its own characteristics.

Some, especially marijuana, are easy to spot. Others, such as acid, are
small, odourless and may even be disguised with cute cartoon characters.

How available are these drugs?

Marijuana is cheap and bountiful locally. At $15 per gram, which breaks
down to about three or four joints or cigarettes that sell for about $5
each, pot is cheaper than alcohol and can be a high school students' drug
of choice.

And times have changed since the flowery powdery cannabis of the 1960s.

Marijuana's THC content is about 10 times greater than it was in the '60s.
It is now up to about 20 per cent, when previously it was down around two
per cent.

Recognizing marijuana is easy.

The smell of it is hard to mistake and anyone who is smoking it will have a
hard time covering up the smell.

Ladysmith RCMP Staff Sgt. Charlie Schaal likens the smell of burning pot to
burning rope.

The smell sticks to hair, clothing and to the fingers that hold the joint.

To cut the marijuana to fit it into rolling papers, small scissors are
normally used and they can get blackish-green tips from contact with the
vegetative matter.

They will likely smell, too.

Where there is pot, rolling papers normally aren't far away. If a child
doesn't smoke or roll their own tobacco cigarettes, a simple thing like
rolling papers is a good indicator that they are using drugs.

If a person comes home smelling strange and is overly giddy, a little
stupefied, somewhat zoned out with an insatiable hunger, especially for
junk food, they could be high from smoking marijuana.

Also be aware of how this person's eyes look.

If their pupils are dilated and the whites of the eyes are red, but not
bloodshot, and they have the above-mentioned symptoms, chances are even
better that they are high.

Someone who is a frequent pot smoker may show some behavioural traits
commonly linked to drug use.

A heavy user may have little or no ambition.

Marijuana is one of the most frequently used drugs for teens along with
alcohol and tobacco.

Marijuana is known as a psychoactive drug that is the most widely used and
abused family of drugs around. Caffeine is also a psychoactive drug, but
the most widely abused is alcohol, followed by nicotine and pot.

When young people graduate from smoking pot into using even more harmful
and powerful drugs, it can become more difficult to identify the signs.

But behavioural changes and paraphernalia used to consume high end drugs
can still tell parents a lot about if their kids are on drugs.

Higher end drugs cost more.

At $80 per gram, cocaine isn't a bargain, but it isn't too expensive for a
student with a part-time job.

It's sold in 'eight-balls', which is one-eighth of an ounce. A 'spit-ball'
is one quarter of a gram and sells for about $40.

Forty dollars won't last an addict very long, but will get three people
high for a few hours.

Cocaine is also commonly stored in 'flaps', which are folded paper squares.

These days snorting coke isn't very common. It's more commonly converted to
crack by cooking it in either sudsy ammonia or baking soda.

Look for a blackened spoon, or bottle caps, that have been used to cook the
drug.

Pipes can be ornate with carved wood or copper piping or even fashioned out
of a bic pen.

A pop can may be made into a crude pipe with holes poked near the bottom,
flattened in the middle and black around the holes where the crack has been
burnt.

Cocaine can also be mixed with water and injected.

Needle marks or 'tracks' on the user's arms or other parts of the body can
indicate that person is shooting up.

Someone who is high on cocaine will likely sweat a lot and have a certain
degree of paranoia.

They may be hyperactive and have trouble sleeping, and will have an
increased heart rate and blood pressure.

One of today's most popular party drugs is ecstasy, which usually comes in
pill or caplet form in varying colours.

At the going rate of $20 per tablet, which is one-tenth of a gram, it's
relatively inexpensive and will keep kids partying all night.

Ecstasy is hallucinogenic and will likely produce dilated pupils. It can
cause a person to sweat and act in a bizarre manner.

Some E labs are now lacing ecstasy with heroine or cocaine.

Drug labs can be as crude as a couple of garbage cans in a garage where the
drug, in its pure form, is mixed into various powders to make up pills.

Heroin costs about $30 for one-tenth of a gram or a 'point'. A heroin habit
can cost $300 per day and beyond.

It is normally injected into the users arm. In severe addictions, users can
run out of decent veins to inject into.

The cost of using heroin is more than just its price, however.

Addicts often become anti-social and become preoccupied with getting their
next fix. Getting the money to support a habit is just part of the
degeneration of a heroin addict, and they often turn to crime to get money
for their next fix.

After shooting up, users often can't control their motor skills or speak
coherently. They experience everything from nausea and vomiting to facial
itching and twitches.

Because illegal drugs aren't regulated, there is no quality control process.

No one checks to make sure that kids aren't getting heroin in place of the
'fun-time party pill' they think they're buying.

That means faith is being put in dealers who are selling kids drugs, and in
the people who are manufacturing drugs.

According to information provided by Balderston, nearly two-thirds of all
street-drug samples tested in 1988 by the Addiction Research Foundation of
Ontario were found to be different from what the seller alleged they were.

Knowing what to look for if you suspect a person you love is using drugs is
only a tiny piece of the pie.

Anyone can keep an eye open for behavioural changes and other indicators of
drug use. Something not everyone can do is take a proactive step to get a
person to stop using.

But getting professional advice from someone like Balderston can make it
easier to handle a delicate situation.

Ideally, parents already have the kind of relationship with their kids
where there can be open and honest conversations about drugs.
Unfortunately, life isn't always ideal, and confronting a young person
about a drug problem might not be as simple as asking.

Balderston operates out of the Ladysmith Resources Centre.

She can help parents with everything from advice about prevention, to what
to do if you suspect someone you know, whether it's child, father, mother
or friend, has a problem with drugs.

As well, the Resources Centre are joining forces with the RCMP and other
agencies to provide an informative series of presentations called
Empowering Parents.

The concept for the series is to provide information, parenting skills and
options not only about drugs, but about the entire gamut of problems and
pitfalls our children can encounter as they grow into teenagers and young
adults.

The first presentation of the series was held earlier this month, providing
a wealth of information about drugs.

Other presentations with a variety of guest speakers are planned for the
coming months, and will be announced as dates are confirmed.

Anyone is welcome and encouraged to attend these sessions.

Be careful, be aware and don't be afraid to ask for help.