A PROBLEM IN OUR BACKYARD

Sarah* was sitting at home one night, watching the movie Scarface with friends.

At 14, she had already started drinking alcohol and smoking
cigarettes and marijuana.

Her friends, mostly older boys from school, were using cocaine and
Sarah was curious. She knew it was dangerous, but it also looked like fun.

"What made me want to use it was the scene in the movie where
Michelle Pfeiffer is snorting that line of coke," said Sarah. "I
thought, 'She's beautiful, she's successful, it must be OK.'"

Celebrity influence, as well as peer pressure, boredom, depression
and family history, are among the top reasons Moose Jaw youth say
they start using drugs.

Although drug use is more prevalent among those from lower-income and
dysfunctional homes, children from loving, well-off families living
in good neighbourhoods are not immune to becoming addicted to drugs.

"Our son was a very social kid who did good in school and had nice
friends," said Sue*, whose 15-year-old son got hooked on marijuana,
ran away from home and ended up living on the streets for two months.

"We had no reason to think about this stuff. After he started high
school, my son changed friends and went to a party one night at one
of their friend's houses. We got a phone call from him and just knew
by the way he was acting he was high."

Although exact numbers are impossible to obtain, counsellors and
clients at Personal Choices in Moose Jaw say youth drug use is on the
rise in the city.

Cocaine, crack and prescription medications are the stimulants of
choice for most, as marijuana -- the first illicit drug normally
turned to according to a study released Sept. 5 by the Canadian
Centre for Substance abuse -- is sometimes difficult to obtain.

"It's so much easier to buy crack here than pot," said Katherine*,
19, an admitted drug user. "Whenever anyone has pot in the city, it's
gone like that. It takes a long time to get it in from B.C. or
whatever, but crack is always around."

Insp. Tim Arnott of the Moose Jaw Police Service echoed Katherine's
statements, adding the danger lies in the fact that most of what's
being passed off as cocaine or crack usually isn't.

"That's the problem with the drug trade," he said. "These aren't
reputable people. You don't know what it's been laced with or what
it's been cut with."

Jim Waldon, clinical head of Addiction Services in Moose Jaw said
most of what is sold as cocaine in the city is actually
methamphetamine, a highly addictive substance more commonly known as
"speed" or "crystal meth."

Although the high is similar to pure cocaine, this psychostimulant --
which can be manufactured using Sudafed, iodine and the strike pad
from a match book -- is more potent, longer lasting, and more harmful
to the central nervous system.

"It's cheap to make and dealers can sell methamphetamine at cocaine
prices," said Waldon. "It's an effective way for them to make a bunch
of money."

Waldon credits organized crime, such as street and biker gangs, for
bringing drugs into Moose Jaw.

Youth, in turn, purchase goods from lower-level dealers, such as
friends at school or in their neighbourhoods.

"They're also ordering it online," said Waldon. "It's scary, the
amount of stuff available on the Internet."

Personal Choices, a counselling and information centre geared towards
helping youth with addiction, housing and other problems has had 450
clients since opening its doors in October 2006.

Most are struggling with some kind of substance abuse, said outreach
worker Amanda Goodnough.

"People in Moose Jaw won't recognize we have a problem here because
it makes us look bad," she said. "It's becoming more and more
dangerous, the more problems we keep having."

Personal Choices director Jana Horsnall agreed.

"The more uninformed people are, the more vulnerable we, as a
community, can be," she said. "We can't just bury our heads in the
sand and pretend it's not happening."

* Names have been changed by the Times-Herald to protect the
identities of some sources.