EDUCATION: OFFICIALS UNITE IN THE FIGHT AGAINST POT USE

A new public education program launched Wednesday is designed to
prevent smoking pot and driving.

Society's acceptance of marijuana use is killing too many local
youngsters, and has prompted Langley RCMP to partner with several
community service and government agencies this week in an effort to
stop the senseless deaths.

One of the first steps must be to change misconceptions among Langley
teens that pot is harmless and legal, Cpl. Diane Blain said during a
press conference Wednesday morning at the Langley RCMP detachment.

"Unfortunately, it appears that our society has grown complacent about
marijuana use. A lot of people simply think that it's no big deal,"
Blain said. "It is a big deal. Marijuana use has claimed many lives,
it is a health and safety hazard, and its production is linked to
organized crime."

She and other speakers, including RCMP Supt. Janice Armstrong, Langley
MP Mark Warawa, and B.C. Solicitor General John Les, pleaded for the
public's help in discouraging the community's youth from using drugs
and then driving.

Blain pointed to two fatal accidents, one in Aldergrove during April
of 2002, and another in Fort Langley this past April. In both cases,
the drivers were believed to have consumed marijuana.

Although a coroner's report on the most recent accident is not
expected for another month, regional coroner Vince Stancato confirmed
that THC (the plant's main psychoactive chemical) was found among the
drugs and alcohol in 18-year-old Justin Dionne's system during the
autopsy.

In the April 10 crash, Dionne and buddy 16-year-old Kevin Molloy were
in a westbound 1989 Honda Civic that spun out of control and struck a
hydro pole on 96th Ave., killing both young men.

"The driver involved in the incident had drug and alcohol in his
system," Stancato told the Langley Advance following the press
conference. "And yes, THC was one of the drugs in his system."

Blain also turned the spotlight on another Aldergrove accident that
dates back more than four years, in which two other young men were
killed and another suffered serious injuries and brain damage. They
were all passengers in the car.

Dayton Unger and Simon Featherston, both 16 years old, were killed in
that late-night crash, when another 16-year-old driver lost control of
his 2000 Ford Mustang while attempting to pass a vehicle. The car
slammed into a ditch in the 6200-block of 264th St.

Unger died at the scene.

Featherston was rushed to Royal Columbian Hospital, but doctors were
unable to save him.

The driver in that crash, now an adult, was later convicted of two
counts of dangerous driving causing death, and was sentenced to six
months of house arrest and two years probation, was prohibited from
driving for six years, and received a two-year curfew.

Blain said that, while evidence was presented during his trial that
the driver was high on marijuana, he was acquitted of a related charge.

Featherston's mother spoke during the press conference, supporting the
need for more youth education about the ramifications of marijuana.

"I am here to promote change: for parents to be more proactive; to
lessen, if not eliminate these kinds of senseless, preventable deaths
and the resulting devastation they cause," Featherston said.

While new laws won't bring back Featherston's son or any other local
young men killed needlessly, Warawa said government is preparing to
table a law that would give police the ability to mandate drivers to
give a sample of bodily fluid if suspected of being under the
influence of drugs.

"The goal is to give police officers the tools they need to remove
impaired drivers from our streets and make our streets safer," Warawa
said, applauding Helen Featherston for coming forward to help exact
such change.

Further, the politician insisted, his Conservative government will not
bring forward any laws that will decriminalize marijuana, and that he
would personally advocate for stricter, not weaker laws to combat
impaired driving.

Langley Youth and Family Services spokesman Jim Smith hoped the new
joint initiative will result in a comprehensive study into marijuana
use and effects, which would then give agencies and, in turn, the
public accurate information dispelling the myths around pot as a
harmless herb and medicine.

Solicitor General John Les hoped a public education program like the
one proposed Wednesday will gain momentum and eventually parallel the
success of the CounterAttack campaign that through the decades has
obliterated society's acceptance of drinking and driving.

There is no quick-fix solution available to the problem, Supt.
Armstrong told the media.

But to end the senseless mutilating and slaughter of Langley's youth
due to marijuana use and abuse, she reiterated, everyone must get
involved and work together - everyone from children and parents, to
the schools, community support agencies, governments, and police.

The message has to reach people of all ages that smoking pot is
illegal and that consuming marijuana then driving is deadly, the head
Mountie said.