'DON'T EVEN TRY IT ONE TIME'

When asked if she has any advice to others, particularly young people,
regarding cocaine, Jasmine doesn't hesitate.

"Don't even try it one time, because that's all it took for me. If you
try it once, it's 100 per cent you will try it again."

A recovering addict, Jasmine has strong ideas about drug abuse in
Salmon Arm and what needs to be done to help people.

Firstly, she points out that cocaine addiction is widespread and
affects everyone, whether directly or indirectly.

"It's been pretty bad. I don't want to put this town down - I love
this place. But there's a serious drug problem here - there are a
couple of people here I know who've graduated to crystal meth," she
says. "People turn a blind eye to it, but it affects everything. My
family, for instance - the guilt I have that I've hurt them. Then the
crime aspect and the cost to the courts."

She thinks most shoplifting in town is done to pay for
drugs.

"There were a lot of people like me I'd met. When I was arrested, I
talked to the police officer. I told him a lot of people are getting
arrested and they're criminals not because they're getting their kicks
out of shoplifting, but they're criminals because they're trying to
support a drug habit. He looked at me like he didn't
understand."

She said local cocaine use seems to be taking younger
victims.

"Most are between 20 and 40 - and it's getting younger. Of the people
I knew, I could name 10 addicts who are between 30 and 40." Asked
about dealers, she will say only "there's more than one person to get
it from."

Jasmine says to really curb the problem, more resources are needed,
and help needs to be available immediately when an addict reaches out.

"I've nothing against the addictions counsellors. They're great, but
it's the waiting. There's got to be a way, if someone wants help, to
get them help somewhere immediately."

She notes that, although she's been waiting more than a month for
treatment, she doesn't think she would be getting help had she not
been through the courts.

She believes cocaine addiction should be treated as a medical problem,
not a criminal problem.

"Don't turn away. If you see someone or know someone, don't just write
them off. These are people with families, with kids. You wouldn't turn
away from someone with cancer - these people are sick."

Jasmine has a friend who is addicted, whose parents have disowned
him.

"They want nothing to do with him; he's an embarrassment to them.
That's made him 10,000 times worse," she says. "When you're an addict,
you feel like you're a nothing, you're a loser."

Which, ultimately, makes giving up the drug more difficult, she
says.

"My user friends were always more accepting of my faults. Acceptance
is a powerful hook, along with the dope being a powerful hook."