MEETING LOOKS FOR DRUG ABUSE SOLUTIONS

"Clearwater and Barriere are traumatized communities, and any time you have
communities in trauma, drug and alcohol use goes up," says Angela Lawrence.

Lawrence is the School District 73 drug alcohol prevention and intervention
coordinator. About two dozen local residents turned out for a session with
her on substance abuse at Clearwater Secondary School Tuesday evening. The
forum was sponsored by the CSS Parents Advisory Committee.

An RCMP dog trained to locate drugs had searched the school the week
before, principal Rick Kienlein told the meeting. The dog stopped and
indicated strongly at the lockers of six students.

"The dog handler said he was very surprised to locate that many, but I said
I wasn't surprised at all," Kienlein said. "We have a concentrated group
who are very active in the drug scene. We have kids who are both
psychologically and physically addicted to marijuana. They use if four or
five times a day, even at school ... they are getting very skilled at
masking the smell."

No marijuana or other drugs were found in the lockers, Kienlein noted.

Several students have been caught trafficking at school, the principal
added. Last March he watched a student 15 feet in front of him exchange
marijuana for cigarettes. He called the student into his office, where the
student said he had sold marijuana at the school before.

"He lost his privilege of attending CSS," the principal said.

Simply suspending students for drug use is unlikely to stop the behavior
unless they are new to drug use, he noted. For repeat offenders, a
two-pronged approach of continued enforcement plus education is needed.

Kienlein said he asked for a change to a school district policy against
smoking on school property.

The first reason for his request was that students were going into the
woods near the school to smoke, creating a forest fire hazard. The second
reason was staff couldn't effectively supervise students if they were off
school property.

Allowing smoking in designated area of the schoolyard has actually resulted
in more drug use being caught, the principal reported. Drug use and
suspensions are up throughout the school district, Kienlein added. This is
one reason why the district hired a drug and alcohol prevention and
intervention coordinator.

Another drug that is often abused by young people in Clearwater and
Barriere is dexedrine, according to Angela Lawrence.

She is presently counseling a Barriere girl who "stacked" four dexedrine
pills, resulting in a serious overdose.

Dexedrine is an amphetamine that has a stimulant effect similar to
cocaine's. It is usually obtained by prescription.

Dexedrine is also a major ingredient in making methamphetamine, or "crystal
meth," said Lawrence.

Prolonged use of crystal meth can result in paranoia, anxiety, severe
weight loss, fatigue and rage reactions.

Girls sometimes use the drug to lose weight, only to become addicted and
malnourished.

Crystal meth causes severe withdrawal, even if only used once.

One mother at the meeting said she had been told by a public health
official that the residents of a house in Clearwater had been inviting
young people to visit and giving them free crystal meth to get them addicted.

Drugs discussed at the session included stimulants, such as crystal meth
and cocaine, depressants such as alcohol, barbiturates and heroin, and
hallucinogens such as LSD and magic mushrooms.

"What can we do? Whose responsibility is it to do something?" asked a mother.

"You need to bring people together," responded Lawrence. "Churches need to
be involved, youth groups, businesses, the elderly, First Nations, parents,
schools and health care providers."

The school district official said she is working with such a group being
set up in Barriere.

CSS principal Kienlein said he was not aware of Clearwater's drug and
alcohol task force being active at this time.

Speaking after the meeting, Kienlein said the problem goes beyond the
school. Intervention and prevention isn't just the actions taken when
students are caught with drugs, he said. The process also includes
education on substance abuse and providing extracurricular activities.