DOPE DESTROYED OUR SUICIDAL SON

ONE of the greatest fears of parents is that their children will become
involved in drugs. This has happened to our family. We have now become
involved in a nightmare we seem unable to wake from.

Several months ago our world came crashing down when our son went off the
deep end when withdrawing from cannabis. We thought we were doing the right
thing by confiscating his dope and trying to stop him, but we were unaware
how dependent he had become. He had a major breakdown and was diagnosed
with a mental illness.

He spent several weeks in Perth receiving treatment. It was while he was
there that we learnt how blind and naive we had been. There were so many
signs that we had not acknowledged. We kept things to ourselves and
struggled on as best we could. We tried talking to parents about the drug
problem that we have in Kondinin, but few would admit that it involved many
families.

Then we got angry because we were unable to protect our son from himself.
He had "friends" who would not see the damage that the dope had done. We
sought help from the police but here in Kondinin they are very understaffed
and limited in what they can do.

We remember ejecting these "friends" from premises only to be told later
that if we had manhandled them we could have been charged with assault.
What about the welfare of our son? It is common knowledge who uses and who
deals around here but if it's not affecting you, no one cares.

The frightening aspect of it all is that there are many who can smoke dope
and, other than getting stoned in the short term, suffer no major side
effects. They can hold down a job, play sport and be involved in the
community in various ways. But there is the small percentage for whom it
will have an effect. Do you know how it will affect your children? We
certainly didn't.

We don't think you could walk around this small town of ours and find a
family who, in some way, is not affected by dope. We now have a son who
suffers from a mental illness and is at times suicidal. To the community,
we all need to work on this problem before you too become involved in our
living nightmare.

Arthur and Jenny Crabbe, Kondinin.