GRIEVING PARENTS AIM TO RAISE AWARENESS OF DRUG PROBLEM

Taylor Argent loved to play hockey and he always stuck up for the
little guy.

He was well-liked at school.

He was a good kid who had loving parents to come home to each night.

But then something got the best of him.

Inside their well-kept home in Anders, Kim and Mike Argent remember
how their youngest son's life changed forever.

"It was a little over a year ago that he tried coke for the first
time," Kim said.

They knew something was up, so Kim ordered a drug test online.
Taylor's results showed positive.

"He swore he would never do it again."

The couple found out that an older teen had introduced Taylor to the
drug, which produces profound feelings of pleasure and can be highly
addictive.

Taylor used every three or four days.

"He would go out and think he was just going to have a few drinks, but
then it would never work out that way," Kim said.

They tried everything to help their son, including sending him to
counselling and AADAC.

He also went to the private treatment centre near Tees. The in-patient
facility opened last July for anyone with alcohol or other drug abuse
problems.

Mike said the five-week program gave their son the tools to move
forward.

"We got our son back for a while," he said. "He was a different
person."

"He knew he needed to go get help," Kim added.

"But you know it's hard. You come back and you have all these other
teens that drink and use (drugs)."

Sometimes he became moody -- a telltale symptom of drug use. But the
rest of time he was his easygoing self.

On March 30, Taylor took his first hit of crack cocaine.

Three days later, he was dead.

Taylor was 17.

He would have graduated from Hunting Hills High School this year.
Taylor also left behind a 19-year-old brother Kaylin.

Just weeks after their son's death, his grieving parents aim to raise
awareness of what they say is a common problem in Red Deer.

Mike and Kim said parents shouldn't think that drugs are out of their
children's reach.

It can happen to any child, no matter what neighbourhood they live
in.

"All we heard of was cocaine and ecstasy," Mike said.

"If parents don't think it's prevalent. . . "

They urge parents to act on their hunch, particularly as drug-using
teens will attempt to hide the truth.

They also urge parents to keep better tabs on their
children.

It's so easy for children to hide where the next party is when they
don't need to use the phone at home.

"The kids use text-messaging, they use their cellphones, they use the
Internet. So they don't have a clue what their kids are doing," Kim
said.

The Argents want to share an HBO documentary on addiction with members
of the public aged 14 and up.

Mike had watched the special in the middle of the night and ordered
it.

Taylor promised to watch it with his parents, but it arrived the day
after he died.

Topics include What is Addiction, The Adolescent Addict and
Understanding Relapse.

The free videos will be shown at Carnival Cinemas on Saturday May 26
from 9:30-11:30 a.m.

A couple of other segments will be shown on May 27 at the same time
and location.

"We know this is affecting so many people," Kim said. "If we can save
lives, then it would be worth it."

Attendees will also have the chance to make donations to the Central
Alberta Recovery Centre near Tees in memory of Taylor.

So far, more than $17,000 has been raised for helping less fortunate
individuals get help at the centre.