RECOVERING DRUG ADDICTS SHARE THEIR STORIES

Parents of drug addicts and recovering addicts shared their stories
at the second session in the Badlands Drug Coalition's cocaine symposium.

More than 150 people crowded into the AV room upstairs in the Civic
Centre last Thursday to hear Denise Wenzel of Stony Plain and Chris
Uttley of St. Albert share their stories about their children who
were addicted to drugs.

Both parents are part of the support group "Parents Empowering
Parents" out of Sherwood Park which helps parents cope with children
with drug addictions.

Wenzel shared the story of how she lost her 26-year-old son to crack cocaine.

Uttley spoke about "the green monster" which is what she called the
drug addiction as it describes the state of mind for a person
addicted to drugs.

"You cannot control your child's actions," Uttley said.

"You can only control yourself."

She told the crowd that the issue is not about control, but rather
about boundaries.

"As a parent you must decide what you are willing to accept and not
accept," she said.

"I told my daughter to be home at 9 p.m. Two minutes to nine she
called and said that she was in Edmonton and asked if she could come
home at 20 after nine. I said no."

Uttley described how all of her 16-year-old daughter's friends were
drug addicts and she knew that her daughter was using drugs, too.

"The first step as a parent is learning it is not about you," she said.

"It is your child's problem. You cannot control your child or their actions."

She stressed to parents to boot fear and guilt out of their lives and
to set boundaries.

"Be smarter than the green monster," she said. "There is no silver
bullet. But if your child is living and breathing, there is hope.
Recovery is a long journey."

Four addicts then shared their stories of recovery.

Peter spoke about how he never felt like he belonged when he was younger.

"Drugs took me out of myself," he said. "I didn't want to be me."

He explained how he never had any relationships because he had no self-esteem.

"I smoked crack," he said. "I attempted to stop several times."

Finally he went and took treatment. Now he has been clean for six years.

Jo talked about how she lost her business, family and child to crack cocaine.

"Getting help was scary," she said. "I thought 'what if someone finds out.'"

She explained how she has a younger brother who has been a drug
addict since he was 15.

"I went to my first CA meeting with coke in my pocket because I was
not quite ready to quit yet," she said.

She explained how her brother overdosed on Jan. 6 and was back using
on Jan. 10.

"There is no making sense of this," she said. "I believe we have a
disease and I am so grateful that people are learning about it
because it is scary."

The third session in the Badlands Drug Coalition's cocaine symposium
will be taking place this Thursday from 7-9 p.m. at the Civic Centre
and focuses on businesses. It will teach business owners what to do
if they think staff might have a drug problem and how to cope with it.

Everyone is welcome to attend.