DRUG AWARENESS UP TO PARENTS, SAYS FORMER ADDICT

Parents who want to save their children from becoming victims of drug
addiction need to get involved and stay involved in the prevention
process, according to Tom Barthel, a former drug addict and drug dealer.

Barthel will be speaking to parents and others at the West County
Centre on January 26. The information lecture and meeting is being
sponsored by Greenwood Neighborhood Place.

"I've been succeeding in getting kids off drugs by going though their
parents," said Barthel. "I don't mean to sound opinionated, but a lot
of what is being done simply isn't working. It is kind of in the box
and where I'm coming from is outside the box and with the most amount
of credibility a person can have in talking about this particular issue."

Barthel, who says he was formerly addicted to cocaine and ecstasy,
says if anything there are more drugs and drug trafficking in West
Central Alberta than ever before.

And the only way to keep kids safe from the scourge of addiction is
for parents to take proactive steps, he said.

His so-called alternative strategies system focuses on the parents and
what they should be doing, he said.

"All the parents focus on the kids and on the drugs," he said. "The
first thing I teach them is that none of that even matters; that's not
the problem and that's not what leads to addictions. The problem
doesn't start with the kids; the parents are the key to causing a
difference in their kids.

"People are often frustrated and they are scared. They've had so many
years of hearing the same story over and over again and seeing that it
is not working."

Barthel says he teaches parents "how to make changes in themselves and
cause a reaction in their kids that doesn't make them vulnerable to
addictions anymore and it's based on my experience as a recovered drug
abuser and drug dealer right here in Central Alberta."

On his website (www.streetsmartcounselling.com) Barthel offers the
following services for parents:

- - Teach parents how to "facilitate a recovery" in their struggling
child (adult or young).

- - Give parents a road map to the future of their experience so they
can navigate themselves, and always know what to do next.

- - Show parents how to navigate the mental health and legal system so
that efforts aren't wasted and it works for them.

- - Show parents what kind of help works, what doesn't, and why-so that
parents can reclaim their own lives.

- - Explain the importance of timing so that parents know when to take
action, and when not to take action.

- - Bring experience from several different types of recoveries and
belief systems.

- - Teach families how to structure their home to benefit a troubled
loved one.

- - Convey all information in street-smart terminology.

- - Provide mentorship from an "experienced" point of view to troubled
kids (adult or young) so they can manage their problems with experience.

- - Give referrals to competent practitioners and services in the mental
health industry.

- - Interpret and explain alternative and holistic solutions to problems
of the mind.