PRINCIPAL SEEING INCREASED DRUG ABUSE IN MIDDLE SCHOOL

SAINT JOHN - At Lorne Middle School, in the heart of the north end,
it's not uncommon for youngsters to start their school days high on
marijuana.

The Grade 6, 7, and 8 students are "extraordinarily impressionable,"
says principal Greg Norton, but that's his biggest worry.

With a crack house on one street corner, and known drug dealers and
ex-convicts on the next, Norton is worried the acceptance of pot among
his students will lead to something much worse.

"Each successive year, in my experience, you're starting to see - even
since the beginning of this year - increased incidents of drug abuse
and drug involvement," he said.

"We're seeing it in the middle school years more than
ever."

With Saint John police and addictions officials warning of an increase
in teen addicts in this city, Norton is seeing the bad habits begin,
first-hand.

To him, it starts with an early acceptance of marijuana, which many of
his students and their parents consider harmless.

"There's a tolerance and acceptance of drugs - even soft drugs like
marijuana - that wasn't present five years ago," he said Tuesday in an
interview in his office. There has also been an increase in ecstasy
laced with methamphetamine, a highly addictive substance.

Many children in the neighbourhood known as the old north end, one of
the city's five priority neighbourhoods, grow up surrounded by drugs
and criminal activity, which makes it even more difficult to keep them
away from drugs.

The result, he says, it high dropout rates and crime - and Lorne
School has seen both, with at least 10 of the school's 100 students
currently involved in the youth criminal justice system for crimes
such as arson, theft and drug possession. Another 10 per cent of kids
skip class or have dropped out altogether.

But Norton, who is in his first year as principal at Lorne Middle
School after working for two years as vice-principal at Millidgeville
North School, is worried that once kids drop out, they'll never come
back.

With crack houses, drug dealers and the enticing drug culture
beckoning, Norton said the middle school years are the toughest for
students eager to impress their peers.

Until drug houses are shut down, "our kids are a target," Norton
says.

"They're leaving for lunch and they're leaving after school, and if we
don't have quality programming - academically and extra-curricular -
they could be preyed upon," he said.

ONE Change's Youth Inclusion Program, along with programs that work in
tandem between the school and the Main Street Baptist Church are on
the right track, he said.

"It's really a wrap-around approach. You see kids in the morning, and
you keep them for as long as you can by partnering with outside
agencies till the evening."

As long as they're busy and in school, Norton believes the students
can beat the drug cycle that continues to plague his community.

It's not uncommon for Norton to see a handful of students who should
be in class on a typical walk to make a bank deposit. They're mouthy,
and Norton believes parents should take a greater responsibility in
making sure their children go to class.

"I know exactly who they're hanging out with," Norton
says.

"They're hanging out with kids who have criminal records, who are
known drug dealers, who families have a bad history of violence ...
dating back to when the police station was burned down.

"You see some of these people who have been incarcerated, they have
been released and they're coming back to their old stomping grounds.
They're at it again, because it's their crutch and it's what they have
to rely on."

Norton just doesn't want to see his middle school students dragged
down with them.