RESEARCHERS ALARMED BY DRUG USE IN SCHOOLS

Young people are being barraged with a variety of highly addictive
drugs and they're being found in local schools.

That's the finding of a 2008 health and addictions survey conducted by
Dr. Bonnie Priest of Positive Heart Living.

The study, carried out in association with the Fredericton Police
Force, found that 37.7 per cent of respondents had tried drugs.

The study involved 131 youths around 15 years of age with the average
educational level of Grade 9. All participants were from Fredericton
and its surrounding areas.

The most common drugs identified in the report and known to be used in
schools are marijuana, cocaine and ecstasy.

The survey found that 83.2 per cent of respondents knew someone who
was doing drugs, while 14.5 per cent of respondents revealed they had
sold someone drugs or alcohol.

"It was alarming to see how many drugs youth had seen," Priest said.
"Of course, I come from the old school where all we saw was alcohol.
(It) seems drugs are readily available and used in everyday life, as
opposed to recreational use."

Priest, the national director and CEO of Positive Heart Living and an
expert in criminology education and counselling skills, runs a program
in partnership with the Department of Public Safety that focuses on
drug prevention and addiction awareness.

The survey also revealed a lack of knowledge among the targeted age
group about alcohol.

While 47.1 per cent didn't consider alcohol to be a drug, the survey
goes on to reveal that 54.2 per cent of males didn't even consider
alcohol to be addictive.

More than 40 per cent of respondents said they used drugs and/or
alcohol with 18.6 per cent indicating daily use.

As well, 26.7 per cent of respondents said they had used drugs and/or
alcohol by themselves, while 31.5 per cent of the youths had someone
purchase drugs and/or alcohol for them. About 43.5 per cent of the
overall sample admitted to playing a game involving drugs or alcohol.

When asked if they had been under the influence of drugs or alcohol
and were unable to remember what happened, 28.7 per cent responded in
the affirmative.

"What bothers me most about the results is that we have missed the
boat as far as early education and prevention programs," Priest said.

"The seriousness of addiction has to be explained, as it appears that
the use of highly addictive drugs may become a problem that is costly,
not only to the families involved, but to the health-care system."

Priest said Positive Heart Living, along with the Fredericton Police
Force, has increased educational resources.

Staff Sgt. Brian Ford, who heads up the Fredericton Police Force's
southside neighbourhood action team, said a combination of education,
enforcement and awareness has to be applied when it comes to battling
drug use.

"I think some of the findings are concerning," Ford
said.

"The age in which our kids are becoming involved with the use of drugs
is lower than, maybe, when we were in school."

Ford said the police force has been able to incorporate the
information from the survey into a crime reduction strategy that goes
hand in hand with drug awareness work being done in schools.

"For the first time in a year, we have our school or high school
resource officers actually on the school curriculum where they are
right in the classrooms, involved with the students on a little
different level."

The force has also created a position known as youth-at-risk officer
who has been given the task of identifying problems.

"Too often we hear about these kids being the product of their
environment," Ford said. "So, early intervention may help and we
really need to take the lead."