YOUTH ABUSING DRUGS BY 14, REPORT FINDS

More Smoke Pot Than Cigarettes, Abuse Centre Says

OTTAWA - By the time they're 14, many Canadian youth have done it all
-- cigarettes, drugs and alcohol -- and a new report on substance
abuse and addiction should serve as a "call to action" to change that,
the organization behind the research says.

The Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse says Canadians need to pay
closer attention to the facts that the average age when a child smokes
a cigarette for the first time is about 12, 13 when he or she uses
alcohol and 14 for first-time drug use.

In a report released yesterday, titled Substance Abuse in Canada: Youth in
Focus, the CCSA outlines gaps in Canada's overall approach to dealing with
these worrying statistics and suggests several strategies to plug the holes.

The report paints an alarming portrait of drug and alcohol use by
youth. By the time they are in their first year of high school, about
two-thirds of students had consumed alcohol, according to one survey.
Another survey of youth age 15-24 showed that 83% were currently
drinking or had consumed alcohol within the past year. If it's any
comfort to parents, the students characterized their drinking as light
to infrequent.

More than a third of students in Grades 7 to 9 have binged on alcohol,
meaning they consumed five or more drinks on a single occasion,
researchers found. The same was true for 40% of 15-to 19-year-olds,
while another survey showed that one-third of young drinkers drank at
a hazardous level.

After alcohol, cannabis was the most commonly used illegal substance
among youth. Cannabis use is reported by 17% of students in Grades 7
to 9, about 29% of 15-to 17-year-olds and almost half of 18-to
19-year-olds, the CCSA report said.

Pot smoking, in fact, now exceeds the rate of cigarette smoking among
youth, the study found.

The statistics underline that new approaches are needed to prevent and
treat substance abuse by youth, said Michel Perron, the CCSA's chief
executive.

In general, Mr. Perron said in an interview, there needs to be more
funding for services, better co-ordination between all levels of
government and non-governmental agencies, and better use of
evidence-based research to evaluate which approaches are most
effective. Specifically, Mr. Perron says, services need to be matched
to the age and needs of certain kinds of youth, especially those at
higher risk of substance abuse.

A universal prevention strategy that talks to youth about peer
pressure, for example, can be effective up to about age 12, but beyond
that, a one-size-fits-all approach won't work, he said.

"We know that beyond 12 years old, and because the age of initiation
is dropping consistently in Canada, which is a concern to us, we need
to start matching our services to the age of youth," he said.

Prevention strategies should target youth as early as possible, said
Mr. Perron, ideally at around age 10.

"The longer we stave off a young person from trying illegal drugs or
the like, the better it is, the less likely that they'll carry on into
the future," he explained.

Canada also needs to "professionalize" addiction treatment services to
make them more effective, Mr. Perron said. There's a shortage of
knowledgeable workers and no consistency in training, his organization
says.

"The issue of accreditation is something that is still evasive in this
country in terms of accrediting people who work in the field of
addictions," he said. "You can pretty much say you're an addiction
counsellor without any training ? We want to harness their good
intentions but make sure at least that what they are doing is
contributing to the betterment of the individual."

There's also room for improvement in schools, the CCSA report said.
Prevention strategies would be more effective, for example, if
teachers had better training to recognize youth with substance abuse
issues, it states.

Mr. Perron said he is optimistic about the ongoing challenges of
curbing substance abuse among youth. While addiction was not on the
political or public radar five or 10 years ago, said Mr. Perron,
encouraging signs are now emerging.

He's eagerly awaiting the antidrug strategy promised by the federal
government and expected this fall, and the recently established
Canadian Mental Health Commission is another move in the right
direction, he said. colours and returned to her.