SUBSTANCE ABUSE GOES WELL BEYOND THE HARD DRUGS

The packed room at the Bonnyville Senior Citizen's Drop-In Centre was
a good start to dealing with the drug abuse situation affecting the
community. But any effort to reduce the prevalence of drugs like
crystal meth in the community has to address the entire spectrum of
substance abuse because the moment you allow exceptions, you start
creating loopholes in logic.

The message got through to those in the audience -- if you're going to
get to the root of the problem of crystal meth in Bonnyville, you
can't ignore other substance abuse issues, including smoking and
alcohol and the ongoing normalization of marijuana.

That, more than anything, will be the toughest obstacle of any zero
tolerance on drug use, especially in this town.

As one of the meeting attendees pointed out, few events happen without
alcohol available and this area has the highest incidence of
tobacco-related diseases in Alberta. Cigarettes and alcohol are just a
different part of the substance abuse spectrum.

Cigarettes and alcohol strengthen the myth of temporary consequence,
that the only real impacts are a nicotine fit or a hangover and then
everything else returns to normal. It leads to a false sense of
security, that the consequences of the use of marijuana, crystal meth
or ecstacy are just as fleeting. The trouble is, when they realize
that's not the case, then it's too late.

Parents have to stop thinking it couldn't possibly happen to them.
Given the statistics on alcohol and drug experimentation and use by
teens, it's more likely that your child has had some experience with
cigarettes, alcohol, marijuana or the harder chemical drugs than not.
If you include them or their circle of friends, then it's a virtual
certainty. Instead of assuming their children don't have a drug
problem, more progress might be made if they assumed their children
have had some experience with drugs and then go from there.

Parents do more harm by enabling their children's drug use or by
refusing to accept it could possibly happen, thinking it might be a
reflection on their parenting abilities. That, and the do as I say,
not as I do mentality do more to entrench drug use in youth than
anything else. Change that and you'll make the biggest impact [on]
youth themselves, not through youth groups or special interest groups,
but through the mainstream. They need to treat drug and alcohol use as
uncool. If someone shows up to a Rock Jam drunk or high, the rest
needs to reject the practice.

The meeting was an important first step in a journey that is far more
wide reaching than most people are aware of.