METH PREVENTION MONEY UNDER FIRE

While the head of the local Crystal Meth Task Force lauds the
province's $3-million crystal meth education task force, the school
board chair condemns it.

The $3 million, says Cheryl Ashlie, could have been put to better use
had the province given it directly to school boards rather than
targeting it to such a narrow focus.

The biggest substance abuse problem in local schools, she maintains,
is not crystal meth, but alcohol, and focusing the funds on one drug,
she said, isn't effective.

Targeting the $3 million to crystal meth education, she said, "takes
away the autonomy of local boards.

Officially announced Monday, the program is part of the $7 million
investment Premier Gordon Campbell made during last year's Union of
British Columbia Municipalities meeting.

The school-based program and public education campaign includes
classroom lessons and resources to help youth make healthy choices,
teacher resources that go to supporting lessons, a parent guide, a
website and a public awareness campaign.

According to recent studies of provincial secondary schools,
approximately five per cent of students in Grades 7-12 may have used
methamphetamine, and most first-time crystal meth use begins in Grades 9 or 10.

"I know crystal meth is a destructive drug, and every school district
is looking at programs," Ashlie said, but focusing in on it to the
exclusion of other substances is wrong, she explained.

Monday's announcement, Ashlie continued, "is one of those good news,
bad news" stories.

The program may prove to be a valuable resource, she said, but the
goal of the board has always been to avoid "targeting one specific drug."

The provincial education ministry, adds Ashlie, "needs to listen to
the trustees. If that money's available we want those dollars put
into the base, per-pupil funding so that we can work on our strategy."

Mary Robson who heads up the Crystal Meth Task Force said she's
"really excited about the initiative," and is eager to "get it into
our schools."

But according to Ashlie, the program may end up doing a "disservice
to kids in general if you focus on only one substance."

"I see really good work being done here, but we need the dollars to do it."