DRUGS ARE EASY TO GET IN CITY

There were plenty of stories being told, of strength, tragedy and
perseverance, but few people were on hand to hear them.

This was the case at Tuesday night's first public meeting of the
superintendent's committee on child and adolescent drug use.

Take away the committee members and the school board trustees and there
were about a dozen concerned parents and less than a handful of students
present to listen and offer advice to the committee that is looking for
ways to deal with a three-fold increase in the number of drug-related
suspensions over the last five years.

Parents in attendance, however, were terrified about the ease with which
their children have access to all sorts of drugs.

Mother of three, Debra Monahan, said she had recently been told one of her
children had been caught with marijuana.

"We have had all the talks; it is not something he found in the home.... I
thought we were doing good. As a parent, you think you have a handle on this."

Monahan added she had no idea how bad the drug situation had become in
Kamloops. "There's no sense in educating the children if the parents don't
know anything."

An increasing drug problem in schools doesn't come as shock to Alex, a
14-year-old NorKam student who attended the meeting with his mother.

"I hear people talking about it. I went into the washroom once and there
were people using drugs but I didn't say anything.

"My friends don't do it; that's why I don't do it."