KEEPING KIDS IN SCHOOL BEST WAY TO FIGHT METH USE

There are a variety of ways communities can help keep youth from
taking crystal meth.

At the top of the list is education and today there are a multitude
of resources available to parents, schools and communities.

A student counsellor at Lake Cowichan Secondary School said he and
the rest of the staff are always trying to give the students as much
information as possible about drugs and what's bad about them.

"We try to put out the information out there so they can make
informed decisions," said Pat Biello. "I believe, with this crystal
meth, that they're really aware of it."

He said there are also life planning and health care courses that
usually talk about drugs.

Cpl. Brian Brown said the RCMP tries to reach youth through its DARE
(Drug Abuse Resistance Education) program. The program has an RCMP
officer taking elementary school classes through a 17-week program
about what drugs are and how to say no to them.

There are programs for students from kindergarten to Grade 4, Grade
5-6 and in middle schools as well as high schools.

"We're going into younger and younger classes because kids are being
exposed to drugs earlier and earlier," said Brown.

The DARE curriculum is not all about saying no to drugs, according to
the DARE BC Web page, it also includes participative discussion about
bullying, violence, self-esteem. Children learn about communication
and how to make informed decisions.

"Crystal meth isn't just a big city problem," said Brown. "In some
ways it's a bigger problem in towns like Lake Cowichan, where its
impact can be greater."

Traffickers make and distribute the drug in some of our country's
most rural areas, says the DARE Web page, adding that 12- to
14-year-olds who live in smaller towns are 104 percent more likely to
use meth than those who live in larger cities.

According to Cpl. Beth Blackburn of the RCMP's Drug and Organized
Crime Awareness Service, no communities in B.C. are safe from crystal
meth. Blackburn told a forum on crystal meth, held in Lake Cowichan
last April, that it's almost a certainty that crystal meth is being
made somewhere at Cowichan Lake and most certainly in the Cowichan Valley.

"We also know there's crystal meth use here," she said. How much,
though, is anyone's guess.

During the crystal meth forum, Blackburn showed very graphic slides
of crystal meth addicts, including some of a woman whose skin was
covered with marks and scabs. Some on her back were large enough to
put a finger in. The reaction from the audience was palpable.

Dr. Darryl Plecas, RCMP research chair at the University College of
the Fraser Valley's School of Criminology and Criminal Justice, told
the forum that perhaps the best way to keep kids off drugs is to keep
them in school.

Plecas said youth who start taking drugs are often disconnected from
their families, their schools and their communities.

"With the use of crystal meth, the disconnection just gets worse."

LCSS Principal Jeff Baker said there's a zero tolerance for drug use
in the school, but he also noted that counselling is provided for
students who are struggling with drugs, including crystal meth.

Baker agrees with Plecas that keeping youth in school right through
to graduation is the best way to keep them away from drugs.

Cowichan Lake Community Services also offers family counselling for
crystal meth and other drug use problems.

Important Web sites

Here are some Web sites that can provide help with drug prevention or
drug counselling:

Cowichan Lake Community Services in Lake Cowichan, 749-6822 or www.comserv.org

The B.C. Crystal Meth Secretariat at www.pssg.gov.bc.ca/crystalmeth,
which also has links to other informative Web pages.

www.methwatch.ca provides loads of information about preventing
crystal meth use in the community.