CRYSTAL METH STRATEGY WRONG

The most recent study about drug use among high school kids has good
news. But it also provides information to suggest the provincially
funded strategy to deal with crystal meth is aimed at the wrong target.

The study was published in the most recent issue of the B.C. Medical
Journal. Researchers were looking at drug use generally, but more
specifically they were looking at the use of four so-called "club
drugs" often turning up at raves and dances: crystal meth, ecstasy,
ketamine and GHB.

This survey, involving 607 students, was actually done three years
ago and focused on kids in grades 9 to 12 in two Victoria high
schools and four high schools in Vancouver. The authors of the report
caution that this does not reflect what is going on province-wide.

That said, it provides ample evidence to suggest our schools are not
being overwhelmed by crystal meth, although there is no doubt it is a
harmful and addictive substance.

Of all drugs used, alcohol was most common with 48 per cent of
students reporting they used it within the previous month. More
students smoked marijuana (28 per cent) than tobacco (20 per cent) in
the previous month.

That may not surprise you, or please you. But on the use of crystal
meth, which has been declared by some at epidemic proportion, the
vast majority of students (86 per cent) said they have never used
crystal meth or any of the other club drugs. The study found only
five per cent of students used crystal meth in the past year and only
.8 per cent of the students used crystal meth in the previous month.

Two other key points in the survey: Kids who consider themselves gay
or bisexual were 17 times more likely than straight kids to use club
drugs. (Other surveys have found that gays tend to be much more
heavily into the use of drugs than straight people. Students are just
reflecting that pattern.) And kids who use crystal meth tend to be
multiple drug users.

So what does this tell us? First, if you are looking for kids to
target for crystal meth use, don't go to high schools. Try the
streets. Heavy users inevitably drop out of school.

Second, if you want to target drug users in schools, look at multiple
drug users. Focusing on crystal meth misses the point.

And when it comes to multiple drug users in schools, special
attention should be paid to gay kids. That is not being done by the
Vancouver School Board.

But if you want to get the most bang for your drug-prevention buck,
start focusing drug intervention programs on specific user targets,
instead of the scattergun approach now used.

The report authors say their findings support recommendations from
the 2004 Western Canadian Summit on Methampetamine, or crystal meth.
"A methamphetamine-specific school based prevention program is not
indicated," they wrote, but crystal meth should be "part of a
comprehensive in-school prevention program addressing substance use
issues in general." It also found "most school-based drug use
prevention programs, including fear-based campaigns, are ineffective
and poorly implemented." They also want any prevention programs in
schools to "involve skill-building and delivery of messages by peers."

Last fall, in response to an almost hysterical outcry from
communities around the province sparked by warnings from a variety of
police agencies, the provincial government dumped $7 million for
dealing exclusively with crystal meth and specifically into school
programs focused on that drug.

Parents may well ask if there are not better ways to spend that money
in light of the results in this latest study.

You can read the study on the B.C. Medical Association web site at www.bcma.org.