PROGRAM AIMS TO STEER STUDENTS IN NEW DIRECTION

The fact that a significant portion of youth have tried drugs is not a
big revelation.

The reasons for that are another matter.

According to the Centre for Addictions Research of B.C., a 2008 report
cited that 78 per cent of youth have tried alcohol, 50 per cent have
done marijuana and 40 per cent used tobacco before they turned 18.

While the majority of those people will never develop serious
problems, some inevitably will.

New Direction, a program for local high schools, is designed to help
young people who are dealing with drug use issues.

"We want the program to be a safe place for our youth to explore their
relationship to drugs," said Brian Gross, a development consultant
with IMPACT youth addiction and prevention services who designed the
initiative.

"Ultimately, all the laws and external pressures in the world haven't
solved the problems of substance abuse."

The pilot project, which began in January and works with local
secondary schools, runs out of Abbotsford Collegiate, the Bakerview
Learning Centre and the IMPACT offices.

Students who are suspended from school for drug issues are enrolled in
the program, which they complete within five hours over two sessions.

Initially, the participants tend to be defensive, expecting lectures
about abstaining from drug use.

"Rather than coming in with a message of one kind or another, we are
asking them and helping them look at their drug use patterns ... or
the people they are hanging around with, and why they are using
drugs," Gross said.

"We are just helping them think about how and when drug use could be a
problem."

At the end, the students pick one staff member at the school, who the
students are comfortable to speak with.

"A lot of kids don't reach out to adults because they are afraid of
what they will do or say," Gross said.

"If you are sending them the message that drugs are bad and evil and
horrible, and then the take drugs and it makes them feel better than
they ever have before, they are probably not going to come talk to you
about that."

The students meet with their staff ally, as well as a two-week and
six-month follow-up with an IMPACT counsellor.

- - IMPACT is a community program for youth between the ages of 12 and
24 in Abbotsford and Mission. It deals with youth and their families
who have been directly or indirectly affected by alcohol and drug use,
abuse and addiction.

- - IMPACT's annual general meeting is today (June 15) at the Edenvale
Retreat and Conference Centre, 4330 Bradner Rd. at 6 p.m. Attendees
will be taken through interactive activities and discussions that are
included in the New Direction program, and feedback from youth
participants will be shared. To register, call 604-853-1766 or
impactdiana@telus.net.