OVER 1,000 SEEK HELP FOR ADDICTION

Tobacco, Alcohol, Marijuana Top List Of Problem Substances In
Southwest N.S.

YARMOUTH - More than 1,000 people in southwestern Nova Scotia sought
help for an addiction during the 2006-07 fiscal year, says the man in
charge of addiction services for the local health authority.

And information supplied by those clients from Yarmouth, Digby and
Shelburne counties clearly reveals the top five substances people say
they have trouble with.

They range from tobacco down to benzodiazepines, or downers, used to
calm nerves. Many clients are addicted to more than one substance.

"About 60 per cent of our clientele . . . have nicotine
difficulties," said John Moore, the addiction services manager for
the South West Nova district health authority. "Second . . . is
alcohol at about 51 per cent."

Cannabis is third at 26 per cent, cocaine fourth at 14 per cent and
benzodiazepines fifth at about five per cent.

Addiction services also help problem gamblers, who may even occupy a
bed in the Yarmouth detox centre from time to time.

Statistics Mr. Moore cited suggest 60 per cent of the district's
population have probably gambled for money in the past year.

And of that group, two to five per cent suffer some significant
psychological, personal, financial and perhaps even legal
consequences, he said.

"However, we only are seeing a little less than two per cent of the
gambling population that we serve here so there's some work that we
have to do to promote that service to people."

The addiction services staff recently designed a gambling awareness
exhibition for use in local junior high schools.

"We devised four stations and at each station (students) learn . . .
we want them to be critical thinkers around gambling," Mr. Moore said.

"We were approached by the Digby and Area Community Health Board.
They were looking for something that would be intriguing to kids and
research-based."

A team put the exhibition together over the past four months and took
it to some Digby County junior high students.

One part of the program addresses lottery tickets and advertising
campaigns that promote them.

"But the critical fact missing there is your chances of winning a
6-49 jackpot are only one in 14 million," said Mr. Moore.

Students also learn how video lottery terminals work and how the
house is set to come away with a profit.

The recent Nova Scotia drug survey given to some junior and senior
high students also asked about gambling.

"Playing cards for money was by far the most popular gambling
activity," said Mr. Moore.

Break-open lottery tickets and betting on sporting events are also
big with teens. Males are more likely to develop a gambling problem
than females, said Mr. Moore.

Addiction services staffers hope to take their program to all junior
high school students in Yarmouth, Shelburne and Digby counties.

"There's still a great stigma with all the addictions," said Mr.
Moore.

People can sometimes be less forgiving in their assessments of
addicts than of someone suffering from a mental illness, he said,
because drug or gambling addictions begin with a choice.