ABBOTSFORD DRUG PROBLEM BIGGER THAN MOST THINK

A white outline depicting the site where a dead body lay sits below a
bold headline that reads: "Drug Crisis in Abbotsford."

While promoting their anti-drug forum that was held in Abbey Arts
Centre on Wednesday night, organizers left the public with no doubt
how serious they believe the issue is in B.C.'s fifth-largest city.

However, while the hard-hitting advertising campaign had the desired
effect on some, the auditorium appeared little more than one-quarter
full by the time Abbotsford School Board chairwoman Joanne Field took
to the stage.

"This is very important subject matter," Field told a crowd of less
than 200.

"We hoped this would be a sold-out event. The fact it is not perhaps
shows there are a lot of complacent people who do not realize how
serious the problem is."

A number of high-profile speakers talked about what they believe are
the dangers of varying types of drugs.

In making her address, Abbotsford Mayor Mary Reeves said: "We have a
problem in this community, in this province and in this country.

"Drug abuse is one of the most critical problems facing our youth - we
need to focus on educating our children on the dangers of drugs."
Uultsje DeJong, chairman of the DREAM (Discover, Re-energize and Move
Forward) committee, spoke about his vision to create
6,000-square-foot, 12-bed facility for girls under-18 who are
recovering from addiction.

The plans, according to DeJong, are still in the early stages with a
fund-raising campaign to follow. This campaign was given an early
boost with a $5,000 donation from the Abbotsford Police Association at
the end of the night.

DeJong said there are 1.3 million people in the Fraser Health Region,
but currently only six beds for youth.

"That's just ridiculous," he added.

Abbotsford MP Randy White spoke against the Liberal Government's C-17
bill to decriminalize marijuana.

White is against the policy that would implement fines instead of
criminal charges for anyone caught in possession of less than 30 grams
of pot.

The Abbotsford MP also reiterated his calls for a National Drug
Strategy to tackle all forms of drug abuse. However, he admitted he
has been "dismayed" by both the federal and provincial governments
negative reaction to his proposal.

Frank Roffel, a crisis counsellor at Yale Second ary, highlighted one
Grade 8 student who came to him and said he was already an addict -
regularly abusing alcohol, cocaine, heroin and pharmaceutical drugs.

An other 15-year-old girl, he said, told him she had joined a sex club
in Grade 7 and fed her drug habit by having sex with her dealers.
"She's now in Grade 10 and she trades her body for drugs on a very,
very regular basis," Roffel said.

Roffel said he was not just talking about "tobacco and booze,"
pointing out many elementary and high school students are using the
"hardest" drugs.

"They are using a smorgasbord of drugs - crystal meth, codeine, pot,
heroin, crack, 'shrooms and inhalants. An average student can get what
they want in 10-15 minutes in a schoolyard or in two to three minutes
in a classroom."

Roffel, who said he is "tired of losing kids," believed the public
should not put up with any more of these cases.

"My level of acceptable loss is zero. I will fight tooth and nail to
reach zero, but until we decide how many we are willing to lose, then
what are we fighting for?" he asked.

Abbots ford Police Const. Kevin Murray, a drug recognition expert,
spoke to the audience about how to recognize the tell-tale signs of
drug abuse.

He also mentioned figures that puts Abbotsford above its neighbouring
municipalities for the past year in terms of drug seizures.

He said 658 seizures of various drugs have taken place in Abbotsford
from April 2004 to the present, with 462 in Chilliwack, 250 in Langley
and 77 in Mission.

Murray also suggested that alcohol rather than marijuana is a
"gateway" drug to harder drug use. That, he said, is because people
are more likely to try harder drugs while under the influence of alcohol.

Murray, however, said it is a person who is the gateway rather than
any particular drug.

"After all, a lot of people drink alcohol and don't become
alcoholics," he said.

Two emotional speeches were given by recovering addicts "Greg" and
"Adam."

Greg, now 23, said he was addicted to cocaine by the time he was 17.
That did not change until last year, he said, when he went into detox.

Adam said he was a criminal by Grade 7 and an alcoholic by Grade 8. By
the time he was 16 he said he was addicted to cocaine.

Adam, fighting back the tears, then said he has been clean and sober
for the past five years after being guided by two Christian people.

One of the hardest-hitting periods of the night was an appearance by
John Constible, whose daughter Christena died from a prescription
drugs overdose in 2000.

Constible said his daughter had recovered from a heroin addiction -
which she developed while delivering pizza to her dealer - and needed
something to "steady her nerves" before an important typing test she
needed for a new job.

According to Constible, his daughter was overprescribed Paxil, an
anti-depressant, and she spiralled downwards.

Days after starting the course of Paxil he said he and his wife found
Christena in the bathtub after cutting her wrists.

At its height, Constible said his daughter was on 56 pills a day. She
was prescribed methadone on the last day of her life, according to
Constible, and died in her sleep.

According to Constible, an autopsy found 10 different drugs in her
daughter's system, none of which were "illicit." "She followed exactly
what the doctor prescribed," Constible said.

Following Christena's death, Abbotsford doctor James Swanney was
charged with 19 counts of negligence by the B.C. College of Physicians
and fined $13,000 - a fine Constible says is so far unpaid.

Swanney is currently believed to be living in his native Scotland
where he is also under investigation.

"I am not going to give up and I am not going to go away. Your kids
are still important to me, and Christena - I'll see you later,"
Constible concluded, before introducing a slide and video presentation
in memory of his daughter.