ACTION COMMITTEE BEGINS BATTLE AGAINST DRUGS IN YORKTON

Families are the key component of the effort to quell the use of drugs
among youth, says a member of the Parent-Community Drug Awareness Action
Committee.

The newly formed public lobby group hosted an information meeting last
Wednesday in the Sacred Heart High School Performing Arts Theatre. It
stressed the importance of parental involvement in children's lives, which
includes being aware of the signs of drug use.

The gathering attracted about 120 parents, educators, and service agency
representatives from the RCMP, the public health sector, social services
and mental health. The key-note speakers included RCMP Sgt. Bill Blanchard,
the province's Drug Awareness Coordinator, and drug and alcohol abuse
worker Will Woods.

Blanchard, whose pending retirement spurred Yorkton's action committee to
host the event, presented a power-point presentation on drug
identification, current statistics and trends, health and safety concerns
and the availability of illicit drugs in Saskatchewan.

Woods followed with a talk on chemical dependency, parental concerns and
the signs, symptoms and effects of drugs on the body.

"Everything the two men said all went back to the fact that the family
needs to be responsible for one another," said Kerrie Shearer, a member of
the action committee and a school councillor with the SHHS and St.
Michael's School.

"Families need to get together to do what they need to do for their
well-being. That's why the meeting was for the parents."

Although teachers and school councillors regularly meet about various
issues like drug use and abuse, Shearer said that same information needs to
be in the homes of the youth.

"We all know the parents have the most power and can effect the most
change," she said.

While the Parent-Community Drug Awareness Action Committee was officially
created more than three weeks ago from a meeting of stakeholders in the
community's youth, it has been in development for months.

Represented at the kick-off meeting were Yorkton Mayor Phil DeVos along
with representatives from the RCMP, the Catholic School Division, the
Yorkton Regional High School, Saskatchewan Mental Health, the Yorkton
Friendship Centre and others.

Last week's two-hour long meeting with Blanchard, Woods and local parents,
which included the distribution of literature on drugs and the signs of
drug usage, was also a recruiting tool for the committee.

Parents were asked to sign their names and give their phone numbers if they
were interested in participating in the new movement against drugs in Yorkton.

Shearer was happy with the results.

"I was very, very pleased with how it turned out. People don't usually put
their name and phone number to things, but this time, they did," she said,
adding that parents were also allowed to give feedback about their thoughts
on the issue and what can be done about it.

The information the committee collected will likely manifest into more
public meetings on the issue.

"We're using the feedback to see what direction the committee should go.
This isn't a one time shot for us. There's going to be more things coming
because of this."