FIGHTING THE LURE OF DRUGS

There has been a great deal of media coverage of the international
drug trade, and the violence and narco-terrorism that accompany it.
We read how the presidents of the United States and Mexico are
co-operating to combat the drug cartels and the incessant violence
that is taking many lives as the cartels and law enforcement
authorities struggle to maintain control of the lucrative commodity.

A statement by Stephen Lewis, then Canada's ambassador to the United
Nations, back in 1986, was interesting. He said "that the
little-publicized new problem of drug traffickers in league with
terrorism was making the drug problem 100 times worse, that it had
become a preoccupation of western leaders meeting behind closed doors."

ATime magazine article published in 1986 estimated the illicit drug
traffic to be worth between $27 billion and $110 billion. Estimates
by Health Canada in 1986 estimated the Canadian illicit drug traffic
was worth $10 billion.

The cost of drug abuse to employers through lost productivity,
absenteeism crime and health-care costs was estimated to be $100 billion.

The government and police response in North America focused on
restricting the supply of drugs. Police were stymied by the
tight-knit drug gangs and cartels. Infiltrating drug networks was
considered impossible. It was thought that law enforcement officers
could not shed their middle-class values enough that they could
penetrate and eliminate the suppliers and their drugs. This is still
the case today.

Fast-forward to today. The cost factor pertaining to drugs must be 10
times what it was 20 years ago. Witness the war in Afghanistan. Even
with the presence of International Security Assistance Force
personnel, the bumper crop of heroin in 2008 in Afghanistan was the
largest ever. Drug cartels are now mercenary military forces that
have the technology to match anything law enforcement and military
forces employ to combat this scourge.

Complicating this situation is police corruption. The lure of money
and death threats against police officers and their families give
gangs and cartels free rein to continue to supply North America with
illicit drugs.

The mayor of Tijuana, Mexico, proudly told CNN recently that more
than 300 officers had been fired or jailed because of corruption and
their links with gangs. What about the next 300 officers who are
hired? Will they resist the temptation to cooperate with the gangs?

Closer to home, and in my own school workplace, staff struggle to
curb the drug supply and attempt to understand why narcotics are in
such demand. What are we to do? The police are handcuffed by the
sheer enormity of the drug problem in this city. Visits to schools by
drug-sniffing dogs do nothing but convert the converted. The dealers,
with the exception of Friday's regular drug dispensing, always keep
their drugs off school property. Occasionally the school apprehends
some "tokers," but this is the tip of the iceberg.

Kingston's new police chief moved some officers into drug enforcement
to buttress and support the few beleaguered drug squad officers. As
well-meaning as they are, the police and school administrators seldom
can get at the dealers. What is necessary is to focus on demand and
to address why kids get high.

My experience in counselling youths is that drug use is happening as
early as grades 6 and 7. By the time some kids are in the early
high-school grades, they have a full-blown drug problem. This
conclusion is supported by my colleagues in the school and in such
excellent drug programs as that of Kairos Counselling Service, which
counsels in schools. Between us, we see the consequences of
out-of-control drug use and abuse. The evidence is showing up in
attendance problems, domestic issues, family problems, violence,
crime, prostitution, mental health issues -- especially anxiety and
depression-- classroom disruption and too many missed opportunities.
Our kids are in crisis.

The myth that drugs are a "north end" problem is unfair and
detrimental to understanding and dealing effectively with treatment
and enforcement. There are no boundary lines in the city when it
comes to kids getting high. In my years as a policeman, Kairos
counsellor, priest and school social worker, I have seen many
examples of well-meaning, affluent parents whose kids have free
access to cash so they can pursue their own gain at the expense of
others. Complicating this issue are parents who, when challenged
about their kids' drug use, resist or are in denial about the extent
of the problem.

Complicating it further are the drug dealers, whose sense of
entitlement and arrogance baffle the most-seasoned and experienced
counsellors and therapists.

The Liverpool, England, experience of harm reduction toward the
city's addict population some years ago had tremendous success.
Needle exchange programs and methadone treatment for heroin addiction
have been successful.

The recent news that Kingston has the third-lowest crime rate in
Canada is a testament to the success of such programs as the Street
Heath Centre in downtown Kingston.

Most property crimes and robberies are drug-related. It is time to
implement programs in our community to combat marijuana and other
drugs popular in high schools, such as ecstasy, cocaine and prescription pills.

The marijuana of today is much stronger than what was available in
the 1960s and '70s. Hydroponic pot is what kids smoke today. The bud
of the plant wields an almost hallucinogenic high. I, as well as my
social worker colleagues in Kingston's high schools, see the results.
Academic failure, skipped classes, psychosis leading to suicidal
ideation and suicide, self-harm by cutting and burning, admissions to
adolescent psychiatric wards, crime, families in crisis, pathological
lying, and denial and resistance to help are just some of the issues
dealt with daily in our offices.

Based on my 35 years of working on the front line as a caregiver and
healer, I believe it is time for a national drug policy that focuses
on the desire of many to get high to feel better and to escape their
problems. Things are not going to get any better. The anxieties that
are part of living, and that are exacerbated by a faster-paced life
and stressed-out populace, are increasing. Couple this with the
current economic downturn and we have a disaster in the making.

There will need to be dialogue, support and co-operation by the local
health unit, education and law enforcement. Punitive measures are
still needed for the suppliers, but I have already outlined the
difficulties of that approach. Parents need to be involved. We need
individuals with the gumption to say no to drug use. We need
individuals who will support and enforce a zero-tolerance policy
toward drug use in schools. We need parents to be parents and not
buddies who protect their kids and scapegoat those who challenge bad
behaviour. Concerned citizens and friends of drug-using kids need to
call their parents. Let us collectively help explore, with the young
drug users, why they need to alter their consciousness by taking drugs.

These kids are our future and they deserve better.

When I first arrived at Kingston Collegiate and Vocational Institute
in 1987, half the students would go out to the smoking area. There
are now only scattered pockets of smokers. When I was a kid, my dad
would ask me to hand him a beer from the back seat of the car after a
hard day's work at the cottage. What we once thought okay we now know
was not. The incidence of smoking-related diseases is dropping
because fewer people smoke. Traffic fatalities involving drinking
have dropped significantly. A new policy vis-s-vis drugs can do likewise.

This is the time for change, not talk.

Lee Huddleston is a past member of the Whig Standard's Community
Editorial Board.