RETIRED POLICE OFFICER HELPS PARENTS TALK TO KIDS ABOUT DRUGS

"How do I talk to my kids about drugs?" is a question that Robb McGirr
hears all of the time.

Luckily for parents, the retired Port Moody Police sergeant and expert
in drug trends has written the third edition of his popular Teen Drug
Trends guide with that question in mind.

Teen Drug Trends: A parent's guide to understanding and responding to teen
drug use was first printed in 1995 and again in 1999 as a community
response to the increase in heroin use by teens in the Tri-Cities.

Parents said they wanted to talk to their kids about drugs, but the
information they had was outdated and quickly discounted.

The black-and-white handbook featured information about the drugs of
choice at the time and where they came from.

"A lot of input that we received was that it gave them current
information, so that when they started getting involved in
conversations with their kids, at least it was credible."

But McGirr says parents wanted even more information.

"The single biggest piece of feedback is, 'OK, now I know about these
drugs, what do I do with this information?'" McGirr explains.

So when he retired in 2003 he wanted to expand the booklet to include
a second component which provided details for parents on how to do an
assessment and find out their children's level of interest in drugs,
if they are using drugs, at what level they are using and help
formulate a response strategy.

McGirr, who currently works as a school-based drug and alcohol
prevention counsellor, says he wanted to draw on his clinical
expertise, as well as his 28-year career in law enforcement, in the
book.

"Since the book has been distributed, the feedback I'm getting from
parents is that it's helping them narrow down what their options are,
what's going on and narrow down what the most productive response is,
and that's what the goal was," McGirr says.

The new booklet is also printed in full-colour with photos of what the
drugs look like, how they are used and side effects such as "ecstasy
eyes." The descriptions of the drugs are exhaustive and easy to understand.

"It's the kind of book that needs to probably be done every three
years," says McGirr, who points out that when the first edition came
out, heroin was the drug of choice, whereas now it's not nearly as
popular."

McGirr says he gets his information from the young people he works
with, as well as from parents, police officers and teachers.

"Everybody has a little piece of the puzzle," he says.

What McGirr has found is that outside of alcohol and marijuana,
ecstasy, cocaine and crystal meth, in that order, are the most popular
drugs with teens in the Tri-Cities.

"That trend is pretty consistent, that's the same trend I'm seeing in
other areas, particularly in Ridge Meadows," he says.

Although all of the buzz lately has been about crystal meth, McGirr
says that while the concerns are valid and the initiatives seem to be
having some effect, people have to realize that the issues of drug and
alcohol abuse for young people are not limited to crystal meth.

"We have to respond to the issue of alcohol and drug abuse on a
broader scale and recognize kids need to be give information on all
drugs of choice," McGirr says.

The third edition of the guide was printed in early January, and is
now being distributed to schools by the Society for Community
Development and the Port Moody Police Service Union.

The union, a local of the B.C. Federation of Police Officers, fully
funded the guide. The federation raises money through a telephone
campaign and gives money to all of the locals, which generally put it
towards at-risk youth and related activities.

"This year we targeted the book because we thought it would be a
fantastic avenue (to help at-risk youth)," says Const. Ryan West,
president of the Port Moody Police Service Union.

West says the union is very proud to have funded 100 per cent of the
costs associated with the book, which ends up throughout B.C.

"The information in it is invaluable," West says. "He (McGirr) has a
lot of knowledge ... and he makes it user-friendly. Pulling it
together is what it's all about, and doing it in a way that's
understandable."