GOOD PARENTING SEEN AS KEY TO KEEPING KIDS OFF DRUGS

You can't talk about the devastating drug crystal meth without
talking about parenting.

"It's mostly kids who have suffered abuse or emotional pain at home
who end up on drugs," Dr. Gabor Mate told a crystal meth forum in
Peachland on Saturday. "I've been told by so many addicts that they
were abused at home and that their first experience with drugs felt
like a warm hug."

However, even kids who come from seemingly good homes can succumb to drugs.

"Usually, what happens in those cases is that those kids come from a
home where they weren't abused, but they didn't have constant
nurturing from a non-stressed adult," said Mate.

"They may become too attached to their peers in such cases, and if
their peer group is doing drugs, they are likely to as well."

The District of Peachland, the rural RCMP detachment and the
Peachland Wellness Centre sponsored the seminar.

"Crystal meth isn't a huge problem in Peachland, but it is here. The
stores downtown tell us kids are buying the ingredients," said Barrie
Hewer of the wellness centre.

"We organized this as an information session for parents and kids and
a pre-emptive strike against meth."

Meth is a highly addictive and dangerous drug made of such poisons as
drain cleaner, the active ingredient in nail polish, the acid used to
make mustard gas, camp fuel, lye and paint remover.

While the resulting high gives users feelings of joy, power, success
and high self-esteem, it also causes delusional thinking, violent
behaviour, welted skin, increased heart rate, stroke and potentially
fatal seizures.

"Oh yes, there's lots of drugs around," said Ashley Gorrie, 16, one
of the few teens at the session.

"I came today because my mom wanted me to. It was pretty intense, but
I learned a lot about meth and how not to get mixed up in drugs."

Ashley's mom, Leanne, said she learned a lot about parenting.

Mate, the author of the parenting book "Hold Onto Your Kids," said
the best thing a parent can do to keep their kids away from drugs is
to spend time with them just hanging out, and being interested in and
listening to them.

"Good relationships allow children and teens to become more
independent without all the conflict," he said.

"Parenting isn't a skill; it's a relationship."

Kids don't avoid drugs by being lectured about them or even by
negative consequences after they've tried drugs.

"They avoid drugs if they have good relationships at home," he stressed.

Mate likes to give this preventative advice before people end up like
the addicts he sees in Vancouver's seedy Downtown Eastside.