CITY GETS PAWNSHOP TO REMOVE SALVIA FROM ITS SHELF

A legal drug that has been raising some concerns is no longer
available at a Trail pawnshop since the city has stepped in.

"I don't want a bad reputation," said Casey LeMoel, the owner of
Bargain Pawn Shop in the Gulch. "I'm running a decent business here,
it's not shady."

Since Monday, LeMoel is no longer selling salvia divinorum - a
hallucinogenic drug that comes in the form of dried leaves or a form
of extract - at his hemp and new and used store that opened about
four months ago.

"Salvia is legal like tobacco and has been compared to marijuana but
only gets someone high for about five to 10 minutes," said LeMoel,
who originally decided to offer the drug after researching pawnshops
alike and noticing it was popular across the province.

Informed by Trail RCMP, Trail city council decided it was in the best
interest of residents to proceed on a cautionary basis, asking LeMoel
to take the drug off the shelf.

"The city is concerned that salvia may be a hallucinogenic substance
potentially harmful to the public, and as such, it is felt that the
sale of the product should be restricted," explained Trail
administrator Michelle Ferraro. "(Casey) LeMoel was asked to cease
the sale of the product from his new and used shop. Failing
compliance, the matter would have been advanced to council to
consider the suspension or cancellation of his business license."

Though the drug is legal, a local youth services organization
considers it a threat to teens and also potentially a gateway drug.

Freedom Quest, which offers confidential services to teens and
families throughout the West Kootenay-Boundary, doesn't consider
salvia a popular drug in Trail but keeps all substances on its radar.

"Salvia is not considered a party drug, users don't become
interactive but do have their own hallucinogenic experience," said
Corrie Goldsbury, an alcohol and drug counsellor with Freedom Quest
in Trail. "It's not addictive, but habitual forming much like marijuana."

"It's like pot. A lot of people smoke pot and before they know it
they're saying, 'I'll try a line of that' or 'I've heard acid is
fun,'" she said. "People take drugs because they think they're fun,
because they have a good time - at least initially. Some people get
away with taking a little or smoking a little when they're young and
then there are those who become addicted and need treatment or wind
up in jail."

The drugs that are most common in Trail are ketamine, better known as
"Special K" or horse tranquilizer; OxyContin; crystal meth, which is
being mixed in with other drugs; and cocaine, she said.

Like Goldsbury, police are concerned about salvia and the effects it can have.

"It is legal in B.C., therefore there is no enforcement action to be
taken," said RCMP Sgt. Rob Hawton. "The best advice we can give to
parents is to educate their children about the effects of this drug,
the same as any of the other drugs out there, legal or illegal."

Freedom Quest works on a harm-reduction model, providing prevention,
education and community development services.

General outreach and drug and alcohol outreach are delivered, as well
as parent-teen mediation, a six-week program that focuses on drug and
alcohol use and a mental health and addictions course.

The organization also has a hospital liaison at Kootenay Boundary
Regional Hospital who does follow up work with teens who end up in
emergency and runs a probation-mandated program that deals with youth
and substance abuse.

To connect with Freedom Quest, call the Trail office at 364-0082 or
find information online at freedomquestonline.ca

The Trail office is located at 1504 Cedar Ave., across from the
Columbia Youth Community Development Centre.