ADDICTION EXPERTS WALKING HALLS WITH STUDENTS

Intervention Plan Now in 60 Schools

THE names of drugs trip easily off the kids' tongues -- peyote,
ecstasy, crystal meth, LSD.

The students say they know the effect of each, know how long it lasts,
know how addictive or deadly each drug can be, and they can sort each
drug readily into hallucinogens, depressants, or stimulants.

And they say that students know where they can get the
drugs.

Nicole Laping, a school liaison with the Addictions Foundation of
Manitoba, led a freewheeling discussion recently at Sturgeon Creek
Collegiate.

It's all part of an AFM program now in 60 Manitoba high schools, aimed
at early intervention into drug problems, raising student awareness,
and dispelling myths, Laping said. She spends two days a week speaking
to classes at Sturgeon Creek, and two days at St. James Collegiate,
both in St. James-Assiniboia division.

Laping walks the halls, so that students can stop her for a quiet
word, or come to her office for a discreet chat.

"A lot of kids wouldn't pick up the phone and call our office," Laping
said.

But they'll ask her about the specific consequences of mixing alcohol
and a particular drug. Or they'll have friends trying cocaine, and
want to know the dangers in it.

No school is free of drugs, she said. "We get a lot of calls to expand
the program," which is jointly funded by AFM and school divisions.

There are also AFM counselors in each of six high schools in River
East Transcona School Division in the city, but the rest of the
program is scattered throughout rural Manitoba.

Despite the plethora of drugs available, alcohol and marijuana remain
the main drugs facing teenagers, she said.

"People think if there's a group of students, automatically, they
think they do drugs," said student Chalaine Hermary.

"Schools should be more strict," Breanne Houle urged. "Parents should
learn about drugs," so they can recognize if their kids are using.
There's a lot of peer pressure, several Sturgeon Creek students agreed.

Ultimately, "It's up to the kids themselves to make the decision
whether to use drugs," James Jordan said.

One student said she is looking for a new crowd after deciding she
didn't need drugs: "My friends didn't want to talk to me once I
stopped doing weed and stopped drinking," she said.

A student who went home high was shocked but thrilled when her mother
sat her down for a heartfelt talk, instead of "flipping out."