WORD OUT ON TEENS TRADING SEX FOR DRUGS

The Abbotsford School District is taking a proactive approach to dealing
with students' involvement in drug parties and related activities, school
board chairwoman Joanne Field said Tuesday.

Frank Roffel, a high school counsellor at Yale secondary, last month told a
group at an Abbotsford drug forum that young girls are trading sex for
drugs at parties and social gatherings in this community.

For example, a 15-year-old girl told him she had joined a sex club in Grade
7 and fed her drug habit by having sex with her dealers, he said. "They are
using a smorgasbord of drugs - crystal meth, codeine, pot, heroin, crack,
'shrooms and inhalants," he said.

Field said the board wanted to raise concerns concerns about the drug
parties because they believe all parents and school districts should be
concerned.

"If it is happening here in Abbotsford, it is happening everywhere. To
address a problem, the first step is to admit it exists," she said. Trustee
Uultsje DeJong coordinated last month's drug forum, where a variety of drug
issues were raised.

"Our immediate response was to get the word out," said DeJong. "Parents
need to know about these activities, so they can take measures to protect
their kids."

In addition to raising public awareness about these activities, the
Abbotsford school board has assigned the matter to its drug task force, an
ongoing committee that was struck two years ago to address concerns about
youth drug use and related issues.

"We intend to work with parents, teachers and students to raise awareness
about these parties," said DeJong. "I urge all parents to get involved and
I hope other school districts will follow our lead."

Information about the Abbotsford School District Task Force is available
from Trustee Uultsje DeJong. Concerned parents can call 604-996-6048 or
contact the school counselor at individual schools.

- -with files from Joe Millican