TASK FORCE TARGETS DRUG, ALCOHOL ABUSE

A joint Pemberton/Mount Currie task force on drug and alcohol abuse is
working to ensure, among other things, that what happened to Ross Leo
never happens again.

The death of Leo, the 15-year-old from Mount Currie who was beaten to
death in Pemberton on May 2, 2002, during a struggle over a bottle of
wine, sparked the re-emergence of the Pemberton/Mount Currie Healthy
Communities Initiative, and that, in turn, gave rise to the
Pemberton/Mount Currie Drug and Alcohol Task Force.

While the Healthy Communities group focuses on a wide range of issues
related to community-wide social and physical well-being, the task
force -- appointed in January -- is focusing on drug and alcohol abuse.

The task force recently appointed Brandon Hestdalen, who has 15 years'
experience working in the field in both Alberta and B.C., as
coordinator of an initiative to gather data and come up with a
strategy to address drug- and alcohol-related problems.

Hestdalen, has worked as a counsellor for Xit'olacw Community School
and Sea to Sky Community Services. He and his wife, Leigh Dan, also
ran the Lil'wat Youth Society for three years.

Hestdalen was recommended to the task force by Sheldon Tetreault,
administrator with the Mount Currie Band.

The 12-member group, which meets twice a month, includes
representatives of the Village of Pemberton Council, the Mount Currie
Band Council, both administrations, the Mount Currie and Pemberton
health centres, RCMP, Stl'Atl'imx Tribal Police and others. Its next
meeting takes place next Wednesday (April 14) at 7 p.m. at the SLRD
board room in Pemberton.

Operating on a grant from the National Crime Prevention Centre, the
group is working to collect data about drug and alcohol abuse in
Pemberton and Mount Currie, Hestdalen said.

"The data collection ranges from how much alcohol is being sold to how
many suspected drug dealers there are in the area," he said. "Then
there is the softer data that goes to questions like 'What's the
perception of drug and alcohol abuse in the community? How normal is
it?'"

Pemberton/Mount Currie is one of 12 communities across Canada which
have received $20,000 each for similar initiatives related to drug and
alcohol abuse. Hestdalen said that when the group applied for the
federal grant, federal officials were quick to choose Pemberton/Mount
Currie as one of the 12.

"Pemberton/Mount Currie is unique because it's two communities
partnered, side-by-side, and a native and a non-native community. So
we caught their attention really fast," he said.

The data collection phase, which should wrap up in may, involves the
completion of a survey targeted at students. They're planning to
approach both school boards to get their permission for that portion,
he said.

As well, he said, some members of the Healthy Communities committee
have volunteered to take the surveys into the wider community. The
task force, he said, also aims to set up community forums to gather
input.

A report is to be compiled, and the task force will draw up a
strategic plan that makes specific recommendations to address problem
areas.

Hestdalen said the group hopes to have both documents ready by
mid-June.