$20-A-HOME SOLUTION IN BATTLE OVER DRUGS

It's not often that taxpayers lobby for tax increases.

And city councils are usually wary about raising taxes when municipal
elections are less than a year away.

But Port Moody council embraced the idea when a resident suggested
boosting local property taxes by an extra $20 per household to deal
with the growing problem of teenage heroin use.

Resident Gerry Nuttall was reminded that some things more important
than money when he heard police and teen drug counsellors say at a
recent townhall meeting that public resources are being overwhelmed by
heroin use among teens across Greater Vancouver.

The purpose of the meeting was to raise awareness among the city's
20,000 residents, and it worked.

More than 300 people jammed Inlet Theatre, and 200 others were turned
away. Per capita, that would be like 12,500 people turning out for a
townhall meeting in Vancouver.

Nuttall heard that there are more teenage heroin addicts in Port Moody
- -- 50 -- than there are residential beds right across the province --
15 -- to treat them.

Nuttall had friends whose children were involved with drugs, but he
didn't realize the extent of the problem until he heard distraught
audience members talk about their helplessness in rescuing their
children from addiction.

Nuttall came away from the meeting believing that many parents in the
community "are deathly afraid for the safety of their families."

The 53-year-old father of three couldn't sleep when he got home that
night.

He recalled police saying they're going to crack down on users in
hopes of discouraging more youngsters from being drawn in. But he
decided the city should be doing more.

Immediately.

A week later, he attended a meeting at which the city was seeking
public comments about its proposed 1999 operating budget.

Nuttall stood up and said the city could not afford to wait for
provincial and federal governments to become aware of the heroin situation.

He said boosting local property taxes by an extra $20 per household
would generate more than $160,000 for whatever resources the local
police deemed necessary -- public awareness, counselling, lobbying
senior governments for more support, intervention and
enforcement.

Nuttall and his wife Barb have deep roots in the community, and he
believes his neighbours will support the idea.

The Nuttalls built their home here 22 years ago, they run a local
family business, Westpac Office Supplies and Printing, and both serve
on city committees. Gerry is a member of the society that organizes
the annual Golden Spike Days festival while Barb is a member of the
library board.

Gerry and Barb consider themselves fortunate that their own children
- -- now 21, 20 and 16 -- have resisted pressure to use drugs and alcohol.

Barb Nuttall said their approach was to make contracts with their
children -- no drugs or alcohol in return for a cash award when they
turned 21.

"It made it easy for our children to resist peer pressure, to be
goaded by their friends," she said. These days, all three act as
designated drivers for friends.

"The people who are going through it, you can't ask them to do a lot
right now because they are just trying to keep their lives together,"
Gerry Nuttall said.

"We've had more than one friend go through this -- one's at the end of
it, one's in the middle of it.

"The kids aren't the only victims -- it's the parents and the other
children in the family. The whole feeling of family is affected."

At the budget meeting, councillors were quick to warm to Nuttall's
idea, and moved it onto the agenda of Monday night's council meeting.

For procedural reasons, council can't just raise money for the police

and hand it over to the police board.

But it can recommend the police board ask for the money -- which is
what council voted to do Monday night.

Councillor Gayle Carter went a step further.

She suggested the city look for items to trim from its current budget,
creating some instant revenue, so police won't have to wait until the
1999 budget is finalized next May.

"I'm very supportive of Mr. Nuttall's request," Carter said. "We can
find the money somewhere. We can give up something else in our budget
if we have to."

Nuttall wants to do more than just toss in his $20. Next month he will
help organize a new community group to tackle the problem from every
conceivable angle.

"The problem is bigger than Port Moody, and we also know that the real
responsibility should rest with the provincial and federal
governments," Nuttall wrote council in support of his idea.

"But it's not going to happen. We will get nothing from
them.

"We have only ourselves to rely on. A day lost may be a child lost."

Checked-by: Rich O'Grady