CONFERENCE HIGHLIGHTS YOUTH ADDICTION ISSUES

Youth addiction issues take the spotlight at a one-day conference and
forum next week.

The Nanaimo Addiction Foundation is hosting its first ever community
awareness and education event Wednesday (Feb. 23) at the Coast Bastion
Inn.

The event, which features workshops by local service providers, a
keynote speaker and a community forum, is an opportunity for parents
and caregivers to meet with local service providers to talk about
what's available in the community and what is needed, said Geri Sera,
the foundation's executive director.

"We feel this allows the professionals to be in the same room as the
parents and caregivers and each to be learning from the other," she
said.

The event begins at 3 p.m. so that people don't need to take the
entire day off work, said Sera, and cost is $25 for all or part of the
day. The foundation is giving seats away to those who cannot pay.

"We're quite willing to give seats away because we know that
information is important," said Sera.

Three workshops will begin at 3 p.m.

The Vancouver Island Health Authority's Discovery Youth and Family
Addiction Services will provide participants with an overview of their
programs; Nanaimo Family Life Association will talk about Life Works,
its new youth program that focuses on life skills and building
resiliency; and Nanaimo Youth Services Association and Tillicum Lelum
Aboriginal Friendship Centre will discuss their youth residential
housing models.

The hour-long workshops will run twice so people get a chance to
attend two, said Sera.

At 6:30 p.m., Cecilia Benoit, a scientist at the Centre of Addictions
Research of B.C. and sociology professor at the University of
Victoria, will talk about her study of at-risk youth in the Victoria
area (please see related story on this page).

The event finishes with a community forum at 7:15 p.m. where service
providers, government representatives and community members have a
chance to ask questions and provide feedback.

The foundation, which received more than $300,000 last fall to give to
agencies providing addictions services in the community, plans to do
two things each year - it will organize some sort of an education
project and it will distribute money to agencies, starting with
$30,000 to an agency providing youth addiction services this year.

The recipient of the money will be announced shortly, Sera
added.

To register for the event, please go to www.nanaimoaddictionfoundation.org.

Scientist studied dozens of youth for several years

Many youth who ended up on the streets of Victoria come from unstable
family situations, says researcher Cecilia Benoit.

Benoit, a scientist at the Centre for Addictions Research of B.C. and
sociology professor at the University of Victoria, followed a group of
about 70 street-involved youth in the Victoria area for several years,
looking at the reasons why they end up on the streets. She also
interviewed a random sample of Victoria youth for comparison with the
street population.

The street-involved youth tend to have unstable family and housing
situations and tried drugs at an earlier age than the general youth
population, said Benoit, and not only are the street youth using
alcohol and marijuana earlier, but they are also using more intensely.

"Street involved youth are entering adulthood earlier," she said.
"Often their parents are not around. And those who do live with their
biological parents are from poor backgrounds and have less parental
support."

Key to preventing substance abuse amongst youth, Benoit concludes, is
more supports for families. She said only 39 per cent of the street
youth she interviewed were in the same family situation they were born
into by age 10, compared with 70 per cent of the general youth
population. Just dealing with the addiction alone will not solve the
problem, said Benoit, adding that people need access to stable
housing, education, physical and mental health services and emotional
supports. Drugs become a coping mechanism for all the other issues
homeless youth face, she added.

Benoit will present some of the findings ay the Nanaimo Addiction
Foundation's educational conference and forum on Feb. 23.