RAISING AWARENESS KEY TO RESOLVING PROBLEMS

This is the first in a series on drug addiction in the Jewish community.

TORONTO - Jewish Alcoholics, Chemically Dependent Persons and Significant
Others (JACS) has just launched a teen program to help young addicts and
their families in their search for recovery.

The program, which was created to provide support to Jewish teens with drug
and alcohol dependencies, was launched on Sept. 11.

"Kids as young as 14 years old walk into JACS with problems of addiction,"
JACS executive director Marla Goldman told The CJN in an interview in her
Sheppard Street office. "Some have been using ecstacy, hash, grass,
cocaine, heroin."

When these children or members of their families realize that drugs or
alcohol have taken over their lives, and they want help, the JACS phone
number plastered on billboards around the city all of a sudden becomes
meaningful.

Founded in Toronto in April 2000, the voluntary self-help group often
becomes the first step on the tumultuous road to recovery, Goldman said.
JACS now receives up to 200 calls a month and the regular Thursday night
support group is sometimes standing-room-only.

The group's first step is to help alcoholics, addicts, families and friends
break through the barrier of denial. From there, they are directed to other
facilities and programs, such as detox centres to help them overcome
physical dependencies or rehabilitation programs to help them lead more
productive lives. Others may join smaller support groups at JACS that meet
at different times.

Throughout the process, JACS facilitates meetings and contacts with mentors
and friendly voices, Goldman said.

She added that JACS allows for interaction between those who are beginning
their recovery with former addicts who have been clean and sober for years.
Families with children on the street can befriend and take comfort from
addicts who have been there, have recovered and are now mentoring others.
For Goldman, raising awareness is key to resolving the problem of teen
addiction in the Jewish community. She would like to see educational
programs run in every school and camp in this city.

"The Jewish community is living in denial," she said. "When a problem like
this occurs, they take it and sweep it under the carpet."

There is an impression that alcohol and drugs are a "goyish" problem,
JACS-Toronto chairperson Neville Smith said. Some members of our community
feel that the Jewish people - Orthodox, Conservative, Reform and secular -
are held up to higher standards.

However, addiction, like cancer, is a disease that doesn't discriminate,
Smith said.

Studies show that "the incidence of alcoholism and drug abuse is the
same in the Jewish community as in society at large - about 10 per cent."
With a Jewish population in Toronto of about 200,000, there could be 20,000
addicts suffering in this city alone. The number of people affected could
be much greater when you take into account all the family members and
friends involved, Smith said.

Drug abuse and alcoholism among observant Jews is neither less nor more
than in any other community, lawyer and JACS board member Chuck Rotenberg
said. He said part of the JACS mission is to offer "protocols for addiction
treatment programs to remove barriers for observant Jews" where denial
might be especially difficult to overcome.

When the disease isn't discussed, it becomes an embarrassment that isn't
understood. Holidays such as Simchat Torah can trigger week-long binges and
despair.

In addition, having an addict in the family in a tight-knit, observant
community can stand in the way of successful shiduchim (arranged
marriages), increasing the tendencies for those affected to deny the problem.

Rotenberg points out that some yeshivot have initiated addiction education
programs, such as Ohr Samayach's Kesher project.

With their new teen program, JACS is hoping to further increase awareness
and provide encouragement for adolescents and young adults in recovery.

"We want to provide a place for kids where the doors are open and they can
come in whenever they want. Some of the younger kids just need somewhere
they can feel accepted," Goldman said.

Some schools and yeshivot impose zero tolerance policies and expel students
for all drug-related incidents, but this is exactly when these kids and
their families desperately need education and help, she said.

"Parents have this misconception that if their kids aren't doing well, they
can fix them by writing a cheque and making everything OK. Unfortunately,
when it comes to drugs, parents can't fix their kids. The children need to
want to be helped so that they can fix themselves," Goldman said.

JACS offers addicts and their families a place to come to some
understanding about what is happening to them by "connecting with each
another, exploring their Jewish roots and discovering resources within
Judaism to enhance their recovery."

The 12-step program used is based on Torah principles and a strong emphasis
is placed on spirituality and the belief in God, Goldman said. The second
step points out that "a power greater than ourselves can restore us to sanity."

JACS' focus on the fundamental principle of anonymity allows for anyone to
come into the building at 858 Sheppard Ave. E. and feel secure that their
problems won't leave its four walls.

And sometimes a cup of coffee and a few friendly faces waiting to speak to
you at the end of the day about a problem that may be consuming your life
can help. Even if it's just to see that you're not alone.