PHARMACOLOGIST WARNS COMMUNITIES TO BE VIGILANT OF METH USE

Two seminars held in Peace River had professionals and members of the
public informed about the effect of drugs on the drug user and society
in general.

Dr. David Cook, a specialist in pharmacology with the University of
Alberta, spoke about the physical and psychological effects of a wide
range of prescription and illicit drugs.

Cook's first presentation was geared towards professionals who deal
with people with addictions.

Karissa Schuler, addictions counsellor with Alberta Alcohol and Drug
Abuse Commission, said the event was well attended.

"We were really pleased with the turnout, we had 70 registrations,"
she said.

Schuler said Dr. Cook's presentation on how drugs can affect brain
chemistry and neural pathways was especially eye-opening.

"I think a lot of people probably didn't have that information and
that was very informative," she said, "Drugs and even gambling can
effect how our brains respond."

Cook said there is a vast difference in when people with addictions
begin looking for help, depending on what their addictions are.

He said people who abuse alcohol usually don't begin seeking help
until they have lived with the problem for a long time, sometimes up
to 20 years. People with heroin or opium addictions might begin
seeking help within ten years. Those with cocaine addiction often seek
help within months of beginning.

With the rise in methamphetamine use in Canada, Cook said communities
have to be watchful because when it arrives it will happen rapidly.

"If you don't have the problem here, great. But you have to be
vigilant because it tends to spread very quickly," he said.

He said with instructions on how to make methamphetamine easily found
on the Internet and the availability of the ingredients, the drug has
become popular and easy to find.

"It does produce a dependence quicker than any other drug we know,"
said Cook.

There are some obvious side-effects to meth use.

"People on meth are not rational," he said, "Violence is a big issue
in the meth-using community."

He said the amount of brain damage caused by methamphetamine is more
serious than most other drugs.

"The nerve cells in the brain actually die," he said, "It's a drug
with immeasurable risks associated with it."

Cook agreed with the recent research associating alcohol addictions
with genetics. He said that can be easily tied-in with drug and other
addictions. He compared this effect with the indications that
identical twins share more behavioural similarities than fraternal
twins. The same can be said about the behavioural similarities between
adopted children and their birth parents compared to their adoptive
parents, he said.

Cook said that children born to a mother with a heroin addiction go
through withdrawal at birth. Prenatal cocaine use can result in low
birth weights because the drug constricts the umbilical cord.

But Cook said there is little available information on whether drug
abuse causes the same effects as Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder.

"Collecting the data is extraordinarily difficult," he said.

But he admitted that it took professionals up to the 1970s until they
found a connection with alcohol and birth defects.

The second seminar was pointed to the general public concerned with
drug and alcohol abuse in the community.

Schuler said the focus was on what friends and family can do to deal
with the problem. Cook spoke on what the addict is going through.

"In terms of the group he talked about the feelings of dislocation,
the spirituality aspect and isolation," said Schuler.

Cook's attitude towards the subject matter made it easy for people to
approach him with their questions.

"He really opened it up for people to ask whatever questions they
wanted," said Schuler.

Though the issue is not new to society and there is a lot of
information and awareness, Schuler said Cook's seminars were an
important source of information.

"It's like anything, there's always something new to learn about it,"
she said.