TEEN DRUG USE A "SERIOUS PROBLEM"

Describing drug use among local teenagers as rampant, one Creston parent is
going public with a plea for help.

"Three-quarters of the high school students are using some sort of drug,"
said Nancy Wassink, who comprised a one-woman delegation addressing Creston
town council before its regular meeting Monday night. "It's not just pot
and it starts in Grade 8.

"It's a serious problem. I'm trying to do my part in this community for the
youth."

Wassink suggested an RCMP presence around the school grounds after classes
let out for the day, and even in the hallways during lunch hour, might make
some teens think twice about their habits, and curtail the more blatant
efforts of dealers. She said more potent drugs like acid, mushrooms and
Ecstasy are prevalent.

"I don't know what to do, really," she said. "It's not just me. It's other
parents, too.

"Parents can do so much, but they (teenagers) don't seem to want to listen
to parents much. How can we get the police to get the message out that it's
illegal? It's leading to bigger, heavier drugs."

Mayor Joe Snopek opined that it's less a policing issue than "a parenting
problem. We have 13-year-olds on the main street at midnight."

Wassink acknowledged that some parents can't be bothered worrying about
what their children are up to, and that others are in denial about their
offspring's behaviour.

But she maintained that even mothers and fathers who do care need all the
help they can get.

"It takes a community to raise a child these days," Wassink said. "A parent
can't do it by themselves. Times have changed."

Coun. John Thomas was sympathetic, saying, "At some point (if) teens decide
to defy parents, the parents become powerless."

Wassink is the mother of twin girls who graduated from Prince Charles
Secondary School in June.

A third daughter is undergoing rehabilitation for the third time in
Williams Lake. She will be counselling PCSS students about the perils of
drug use over the next two years, said Wassink, who received a pledge that
town council will work with her on the issue.

But she maintained that even mothers and fathers who do care need all the
help they can get.

"It takes a community to raise a child these days," Wassink said. "A parent
can't do it by themselves. Times have changed."

Coun. John Thomas was sympathetic, saying, "At some point (if) teens decide
to defy parents, the parents become powerless."

Wassink is the mother of twin girls who graduated from Prince Charles
Senior Secondary School in June.

A third daughter is undergoing rehabilitation for the third time in
Williams Lake. She will be counselling PCSS students about the perils of
drug use over the next two years, said Wassink, who received a pledge that
town council will work with her on the issue.