FORUM TOLD DRUGS ARE HERE TO STAY

RCMP, Schools Team Up With Parents In Escalating Effort To Save Children

Chelsea Norris was only 13 when she tried crystal meth for the first time.

She'd been told it would help her lose weight. Boost her confidence. She'd
be skinny and popular.

Little did she know her crash diet would turn into a four-year addiction.

Just about to turn 19, Norris is a recovering addict who counts herself
among the lucky ones able to beat the drug - thanks to treatment, and
support from her mom.

Drug addiction has touched some of the wealthiest families in White Rock,
more than 100 parents at Earl Marriott Secondary were told at a drug forum
presented by Surrey RCMP's Youth Section and Surrey School District, one of
three forums held this week for students and the public.

Most addicts aren't as fortunate as Norris, whose story was featured in
Dying For Jib, an anti-drug video made by Peace Arch Community Services
screened at the forum.

Many end up on the streets, in jail, or dead.

"I"m just glad I got out of it," Norris said.

She described how she'd been a shy teen who loved horses, had a close
relationship with her mom, a single parent, when she started hanging with a
new group of friends who convinced her to try crystal meth.

"Crystal meth is really cheap. Quite affordable for a 14-year-old, and it
lasts much longer than anything else I had tried."

Her slide began with lying to her mom, and the once cheerful A-student was
always angry.

"I just lost a sense of who I was in the beginning of all this. I was no
longer the happy, outgoing kid."

In her place was a selfish, violent girl who lashed out at her mom, the one
person who meant the most to her.

"My gut told me she was using some serious drugs," Jane Norris said.

Jane watched helpless as her daughter lost so much weight she became thin
as a skeleton, then dropped out of school, left home, and moved in with her
dealer - who supplied children as young as Grade 8.

"I was so naive," Jane Norris said.

"I thought we were a relatively normal middle-class family; it can't be
happening in my house," she said, adding drug addicted teens "come from the
wealthiest families in White Rock. If you think it can't happen to your
child, you need a wake up call."

The turning point came when Chelsea realized she wanted to quit. She was
alone, broke, and hungry. And she was homesick. "I just missed my mommy."

Her mom was distraught to learn the nearest treatment facility, Peak House
in East Vancouver, had a three-month wait list.

"She didn't have three months. In three months she would have been dead."

Jane Norris spent a week searching for an alternative.

"I literally called every treatment centre in the province to get her a bed."

She found a voluntary, 28-day program in Prince George.

It took three weeks for the drugs to leave Chelsea's system. And a long,
lonely year to find new, clean friends. She and her mom now live on a farm
in Langley, where Chelsea can ride her horse. She looks forward to what
each new day will bring.

Jane Norris was one of several parents at the forum who complained about a
lack of treatment programs for local teens. One of her daughter's friends
it still waiting for a treatment centre bed. The other got treatment after
time in jail.

She urged people to lobby government.

"Everybody has to fight for this because the next kid in the street might
be your kid."

Surrey RCMP say crystal meth, or methamphetamine, is an addictive, easily
accessible street drug that's growing in popularity. It costs just $10 for
a bag.

"Everybody thinks it's a downtown Eastside problem," Pat Johnson, a member
of the parent group From Grief To Action, told the crowd. "It's in every
neighbourhood and every community these days."

Johnson, who described the fierce struggle her 23-year-old son has waged
with his addiction, recalled how difficult it was to notice signs her son
was using drugs.

She noticed he was taking long showers. But she didn't suspect a thing.

"He was going in, turning the shower on full tilt, and smoking crystal meth."

For some youth, addiction results in a long, downward spiral. Her son lost
his job, began committing petty crimes, entered the court system, and
eventually served jail time.

He decided to go clean while serving a conditional sentence.

Once he was released, there was little in the way of support services
available to her son, or the family, Johnson discovered.

"Only last week, he relapsed. It's been hard to come here tonight," she
added, her voice breaking.

"He wanted it so badly this time."

Later, she said she hoped her message reaches parents.

"If I can stop just one family from going through this..."

She recommended two support groups - Parents Forever and Parents Together -
to families trying to cope with a child's drug problem.

She advised parents educate themselves and their children about drugs and
to lobby for residential treatment centres and programs to support youth
once they leave treatment and return home.

"Just keep your eyes open and talk to your kids. This is a big issue. It's
not going away."

The hard-hitting forum, meant as a proactive way to educate parents and
students about substance abuse, was one of three held this week. More are
planned as RCMP and the school district work on a combined Safe Schools
strategy.

RCMP Insp. Amrik Virk said Surrey is on the leading edge.

"Some of the things that are happening in Surrey are unprecedented, they
are best practices, they are one-of-a kind," Virk said. Surrey RCMP plan to
expand the number of school liaison officers from nine to 14.

The youth section speaks with students in Grades 2, 5, 6, 8 and 10,
starting with Stranger Danger, and later drug awareness, high school
readiness and driver safety.