BINGE DRINKING, POT AND PRESCRIPTION DRUGS

The Second Installment in a Series on Drug Use Among Muskoka High
School Students.

HUNTSVILLE-Danger lurks in your home.

The contents of your alcohol cabinet, beer fridge and medicine cabinet
pose a threat to the health and well-being of your teen, according to
The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health.

The largest risk to high school students in terms of drug abuse comes
from legally available drugs like alcohol and prescription opiods, as
well as marijuana use, according to the centre's 2009 provincial study
on drug use by teens.

The Muskoka area is no exception, sitting higher than the provincial
average in many categories in the study. In most cases, the drugs
don't come from city drug dealers, they come from local homes, area
health experts say.

"Substance and soft drug use in Muskoka is very high - amongst the
highest in the province across the board," said Mary Shirley Thomson,
the manager of services for the Children's Mental Health Centre in
Muskoka.

"I can't speak to why it is the case here, however if a youngster
grows up in an environment where getting drunk or stoned is acceptable
- - they're going to think it's acceptable.

"Parents can say do as I say, not as I do - the kids are going to do
what they see."

The study determined that while the majority of teens use alcohol, one
in four is a binge drinker.

When they looked at 12th-graders only, the stats zoomed up to one-
half. Binge drinking is described as having five or more drinks on one
occasion.

This type of hazardous drinking establishes a dangerous pattern of
alcohol use that increases the chances of lifelong physical,
psychological or social problems, according to health officials.

"From a chronic disease point, there's the risk of cancer, stroke,
hypertension and coronary disease," said Mia Brown, public heath nurse
with the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit.

"Injuries include motor vehicle collisions, falls, drowning, burns,
occupational and machinery injuries, self-inflicted injuries, violence
and assault."

Alcohol and drug-related motor vehicle collision deaths remain the
leading cause of death for youth ages 15 to 24.

In the study, high school students admitted to drinking and driving,
smoking pot and driving, and almost one-quarter said they had taken a
ride with a driver who was drinking or using drugs. One in ten
students reported being injured or injuring someone else as a result
of their drinking.

"Alcohol impairs the decision-making process and lowers inhibitions
leading to risk-taking behaviour and consequences like injury,
violence, unplanned sex and academic challenges. Drinking too fast can
lead to alcohol poisoning, injury or death," said Brown.

Marijuana use clocks in as used by roughly one-third of students,
according to the study. Cam Lawson is working with youth on the ground
through The Door in Huntsville.

"This is the third generation from the '60s movement," he said. We're
starting to see what that whole party-on attitude - of it being so
acceptable in society - means."

Thomson, at the Children's Mental Health Centre in Muskoka, says the
pot of today is more dangerous than it was in the past.

"There's a fair bit of brand new research saying, the younger you are
when you start smoking pot, the more damage you do to your brain and
it's permanent," she said. "The pot people are smoking is generally
much stronger than it was 25 years ago."

The damage done by the chemicals released in marijuana smoke has been
shown to be greater in young, developing brains.

"Smoking marijuana is associated with risks for personal harm and
social issues; (kids become) withdrawn socially . suffer from
depression and anxiety. Individuals who initiate cannabis use before
16 when the brain is still developing are more vulnerable to lasting
neuro-psychological deficits - it can precipitate schizophrenic
episodes if they are already at risk and /or trigger psychotic
episodes," she said.

The regular use of cannabis can interfere with coping skills and
protective factors - including resiliency, mastery and positive
self-esteem, according to Brown. It impairs your ability to drive and
does serious harm to lungs and the respiratory system and impairs
breathing, the public health nurse added. Many people are unaware that
marijuana smoke contains many of the same carcinogens as tobacco smoke.

All the health care professionals The Forester spoke with emphasized
the importance of education and prevention at every level - school,
home and community.

Thomson said by the time teens get to Grade 10, they will have been
exposed to and possibly experimented with pot and alcohol to some extent.

"That doesn't mean they come home drunk or stoned nor does it mean
they have an addiction," she said. "It means they're growing up in
this culture at this time."

She made it clear that a teen is vulnerable for a hundred different
reasons.

"You don't suddenly wake up one day and go out and get stoned and
drunk repeatedly - any more than any other habit," she said.

Adults may become vulnerable to drug abuse at different times but many
have the skills to stop themselves.

"Teens aren't there yet," she said. "The simple answer is . long
before your kid comes home drunk or stoned you need to talk to them
about what they may encounter so they can learn choice-making and
problem-solving skills. That starts at age 4, not at age 14."

One Grade 11 student said drug use is different with
everyone.

"Most kids have tried it (marijuana) . most kids do drink," he said.
"Parents don't try to fight it - it's worse if they do. If I come home
wasted, she'll (his mother) say, 'you're an idiot; go to bed.'"

Suzanne Witt-Foley addresses health promotion and policy education for
the centre in the Parry Sound Muskoka area.

"Alcohol is the drug of choice, second is cannabis and (the
non-medical use of) prescription drugs is third highest - above
tobacco," she said of teen drug use. "When you ask kids who've used
(prescription drugs), 75 per cent say they're getting it from their
medicine cabinet at home."

Addiction to Oxycontin, dubbed "poor-mans heroin" has become the
largest part of local addiction therapist Warren Broad's work. He has
seen drug abuse begin as early as Grade 5.

"Kids start seeing drugs running through the school - that's
everywhere in North America," he said. "I have personal experience
treating 12 year olds that are experimenting."

He says Oxycontin is readily available.

"Kids can steal it from their parents, they don't even have to go to
the dealer," he said.

Parents are prescribed the drug for pain relief and store it in the
medicine cabinet.

"Children aren't informed early enough that even though mom and dad
may have been prescribed this - it's still a dangerous drug," he said.
"There's not much education going on at an early enough stage for them
to realize that Oxycontin is heroin - it's just in a tablet form."

All the health-care professionals we spoke with expressed the trend
toward use of prescription drugs as a worry.