TEEN POT USE RAISES ALARM

Chronic, habitual marijuana use by teens - not the occasional puff among
peers - is a trend raising red flags at schools in the Kamloops area.

The trend is borne out in drug-related school suspensions, which have
tripled over the past three years to 209 in the 2002-2003 school year.

"We see the changes," says Grace Graham, a prevention co-ordinator with the
Phoenix Centre. Suspended students are required to meet with addiction
counsellors at the school in order to halve the usual two-week suspension.

"It's 90 per cent marijuana and 10 per cent alcohol, whereas it used to be
the opposite. We haven't seen this kind of marijuana use since the 1960s."

There are more dangerous substances - tobacco and crystal methamphetamine
among them - but none is as problematic as chronic pot smoking. Nicotine
kills more people. Crystal methamphetamine causes more brain damage,
permanent damage, Graham said.

Chronic pot use, though, is negatively affecting teenagers lives and is
more widespread.

"We're certainly seeing more and more chronic users," adds Angela Lawrence,
hired last month as the first drug and alcohol co-ordinator in the
Kamloops-North Thompson School District.

"We're not talking recreational users here if they're getting caught and
suspended more than once," Graham says.

"They're young people using pot to cope."

That is why, during National Addiction Awareness Week, the pair is focusing
on the problem at a school, family and community level.

Both are experienced addiction counsellors. Their approach, however, has
evolved well beyond the stern admonitions and fear-mongering of school
anti-drug strategies in the past.

"When we go to the big heavy, I think we miss the point," Graham says.

"We feel our services are better used if we focus on resistance skills,
refusal skills, more dialogue around why teens choose to use, focusing on
the school setting."

Both co-ordinators are busy responding to school inquiries for their
services, but they are encouraging more than just the quick-fix of drug
awareness education.

"They're not content anymore with one or two lessons in (career and
personal planning) class," Lawrence says. "I think it has always needed a
more comprehensive approach, so the shift doesn't necessarily mean the
situation is worse. There has always been substance abuse in schools."

They point to a number of factors that may be contributing to the rise in
chronic marijuana use among young people. Kids tell them that pot is easier
now to get than cigarettes.

"A lot of teens feel it's just like smoking cigarettes," Lawrence says.
"The sanctions against pot use have dropped. There are a lot of mixed
messages from the law and public policy. Decriminalization is viewed as
legalization and therefore it's OK."

Chronic users need to be better informed about the health risks that are
associated with marijuana use - the increase in white blood cells and the
loss of cognitive function, for example.

To understand the nature of the addiction, though, there needs to be a
better understanding of the individual caught up in it.

"Certainly research shows that kids who use chronically are less engaged in
school and so quite likely there is a need there," Lawrence says.

That need speaks to the heart of the matter: What are the triggers for
chronic pot users and what can they do to cut down?

Their approach is based on two models - harm reduction and asset building.
Harm reduction seeks to reduce use, not to eliminate it. Asset building
involves providing kids with a greater sense of identity, self-esteem and
purpose in their lives - a "strength-based approach."

Graham cites her experience in the past with John Peterson secondary, which
offered a wide choice of lunch-hour activities for its students.

"We didn't get the active referrals that we did from other schools. Kids
were actively involved at lunch hour."

They also encourage parents to develop stronger, closer relationships with
their kids as one of the best safeguards.

The Phoenix Centre's Raven Youth Program, 609 St. Paul St., offers a
parents group every second Wednesday at 6 p.m.

"It's not a blame session. It's about how to make your relationship with
teens stronger," Graham says.

"We really encourage parents to give us a call."