CRACK BECOMES AN ADDICTS LOVER

'I was able to fool people at work ... I denied, denied. I became a
great liar.'

Finlay, 37, was a rising star in hotel management. Life was good -- he
had a beautiful girlfriend, a loving family, a nice home.

Then it all started slipping away for Finlay, who asked that his
identity be withheld. Crack cocaine became his lover.

"I was easily spending $200 a day, paying for my habit by using
people," says the recovering addict. "I borrowed money from family and
friends just to pay my bills.

"I was able to fool people at work ... I denied, denied. I became a
great liar."

Finlay would go on a 20-day binge, get healthy for a while and do it
again.

"I would lose 20 pounds in a couple of weeks because I wouldn't eat
while on a binge," he adds.

Finlay lost everything. The low point came after a particularly bad
binge.

"I looked horrible, I felt pathetic," says Finlay, although he came
from a good, loving family drugs took hold of him. "I was hanging out
with heavy users, people I would never otherwise hang out with," he
says.

"Cocaine was taking everything away from me."

He admitted himself into Turning Point, a nine-bed recovery house on
Odlin Road, on Sept. 20, 2007.

"In the past five months that I've been sober, my ex-girlfriend and I
are trying to work things out, I rekindled my relationship with my mom
and sisters," he says. "Since I've been in the program, I have hope."

Finlay's story isn't unique by any means, says George Passmore,
Richmond Addiction Services' (RAS) clinical director.

Passmore is seeing an increasing number of adults, men and women, who
fit this profile.

"I could tell you many more stories similar to Finlay's," Passmore
says.

In an effort to encourage dialogue with family, friends and coworkers
of addicted people, the RAS is hosting an event called Info Night on
Crystal Meth & More Addictions on Wednesday, Feb. 27.

"People need to understand more about addiction," says Jill Craven,
addiction specialist and manager of community programming at RAS. "It
doesn't matter what people are addicted to, it's ugly to whoever is
struggling ... at the end of the day, people are living in
desperation."

People who are in a bad relationship, have gone through a traumatic
event such as a divorce or death, are new immigrants or changing
schools can be vulnerable to the allure of addiction.

If you suspect your loved one might have an addiction, Craven suggests
you look for signs of changes in their personality or habits
including: depression, lack of appetite, weight loss, grades dropping
at school or defensiveness when asked about addiction.

"Rather than say 'I think you are addicted' you need to talk about the
behaviour and have a healthy conversation rather than a
confrontation," says Craven. "Tell them you've noticed signs and that
you are worried, then either talk to someone at their school (if
they're a youth) or call RAS."

RAS counsellors deal with a number of addictions including marijuana
and prescription drugs, gambling, Facebook and Internet pornography.
But by far, the two most common ones they see are alcohol and crack
cocaine.

What's more, crack addiction is on the rise. "Youth counselors are
hearing that cocaine is increasing its presence in our local schools,"
says Craven

Richmond is fraught with crack cocaine, adds Passmore, because it's
easily accessible, cheap -- a crack rock cost $10 -- and is highly
psychologically addictive.

"It is not unheard of for an addicted person to blow an entire
inheritance or the money received from a settlement or sale of a house
on crack, and $20,000 in a month is not beyond the pale," he says. RAS
is noticing that youth are doing a lot more ecstasy as well.

"Young people are not always aware that approximately 60 per cent of
ecstasy pills confiscated by RCMP are found to be cut with crystal
meth," Passmore explains. "There's no shortage of client work, we are
constantly dealing with more demand than we can handle."

Users run the gamut from the affluent to the middle class to the poor.
"With crack cocaine and crystal meth, there is little discrimination,"
he adds.

RAD offers many programs for adults, youth and children --
counselling, assessment and referral, maintaining recovery,
substance-affected support, Daytox/withdrawal management and
prevention services.

"The information night is about engaging the audience and building
skills to address the underlying issues of addiction," says Craven.
"The audience will be encouraged to ask a lot of questions."

Grandparents, parents, their children and friends are invited to
attend this important and informative event.