DRUG ABUSE HIGH IN SOUTH OKANAGAN

Meeting South Okanagan teenagers on their turf-the streets-it becomes clear
that if there were an exam for illicit drug terminology, costs and effects,
they would get an A+.

The teens know what's available, for how much and the type of high it
gives. The drug of choice is 'BC Bud' marijuana for $30 - $35 a gram and
$150 - $220 an ounce. You can choose Hawaiian, white rhino, skunk,
blueberry, California orange or banana. If you prefer ecstasy, for $25 a
pill, there are green, red or ones with cartoon pictures. Then there's GHB,
a mellow ecstasy for $50 a baby jar. Crack cocaine is widely available and
sells for $8 - $10 a rail and if you want to freebase it, just add baking
soda. Hash is hard to find but the oil is easy to get. Mushrooms cost $10 a
gram and acid is a bargain at only $5 a hit. Methamphetamine, which the
teens say is a stronger form of speed, costs $15-$18 a point.

And there's the prescription drugs sold on the streets like Tylenol 3s for
$2-$2.50 a pill and Dexatrin for $2-2.50 a pill.

"There's lots of candy on the table here," said Mike Bell, a youth street
worker for South Okanagan Integrated Community Services Society, who spends
much of his time on the streets reaching out to the youth.

According to a report prepared by Prevention Source BC, by coordinated law
enforcement, the province and ministry of the Attorney General, BC has the
highest lifetime prevalence for illicit drug use of all the provinces in
Canada.

The information is based on a 1994 Canadian Alcohol and Drug Survey. The
survey is done every four years but the results of the 1998 study haven't
been released yet..

But Dr. Colin Mangham, director of Prevention Source BC in a telephone
interview from Vancouver on Tuesday said, "The federal government is slow
getting the information out but the same kind of things (from the 1994
report) hold true."

Dr. Mangham spoke recently to both the Senate Committee and House Committee
in Ottawa on illegal drug use.

"Marijuana use in BC is the highest in the country," said Dr. Mangham.
"There are two contributing factors. The perceived social acceptance of
using marijuana and its availability."

Dr. Mangham added that BC has many grow operations and a justice system
that is too lax. "The problem is we have mild judicial sentencing compared
to other provinces."

He said that the Okanagan, the Kootenays, Lower Mainland and Vancouver
Island are notorious for having many grow operations.

Studies show that marijuana use among adolescents has increased at an
alrarming rate by almost 50 per cent since 1992.

"Two factors play in that," explained Dr. Mangham. "We have not had much
public education on marijuana use in the last 10 years. The last federal
campaign was in 1989. At the same time there is a large increase in
medicinal use of marijuana and a move to legalize it. All of this
contributes to the perceived social acceptance."

But marijuana is anything but harmless says Dr. Mangham.

"Marijuana is an addictive drug and there is a withdrawal syndrome with it.
It's extremely strong today and produces an impact on the body. It affects
memory, concentration, motivation and decreases the IQ. Many of its effects
on part of the brain are the same as attention deficit disorder."

Dr. Mangham says other drugs readily available in BC include heroin and
crack cocaine.

Drug abuse seems to have hit this area of the province particularly hard.
"It's really sad to see that there's lots of drug use among young people,"
said Dr. John Dimma, who has worked the front lines as a physician in
Oliver for over 30 years and has firsthand knowledge of the health problems
in this area.

Dr. Alan Ruddiman says reasons for its prevalence are many. "It has to do
with the fact that there is a fairly large young population in town that is
marginalized. There are single parent families, young parents with
children, a very large welfare population and a huge transient population
in the summer time with fruit pickers. And we are a border community and
history shows that communities that straddle the US border have higher
incidences in drug trafficking. In the summer time there's an expensive
crowd from Vancouver who participate in recreational drug use. The
combination of those factors produce a year round drug problem."

A 16-year-old attractive girl hanging out on the lawn at Oliver's town hall
said although she's never tried drugs-yet-it's around if she wants it.
"Just being in town you learn about the drugs and the people doing it. It's
the main topic of conversation and it's hard to avoid. You learn it and you
know it."

A 17-year-old girl with her said, "You can get meth if you know the right
people. They bring it in from Osoyoos or Penticton. You learn to know who
sells what and how good it is."

A blond 24-year-old male, while rolling a joint and then smoking it on the
main street said, "I started selling drugs here when I was 13. It was my
first job until I was 16."

Even though these teens were aware of the dangers of drugs when taking
them, many couldn't resist.

At a different location a blond 18-year-old admitted that she has tried
mushrooms, pot, and even acid=8Ajust because. "I thought I'd never try a
hit but I said 'give me a hit' and then thought 'it's not so bad.'"

Another 18-year-old said, "I only did ecstasy once and on the very day that
I did it people were telling me that it was dangerous. I'm never going to
do it again. It's stupid and I felt sorry for myself after. Anything can
happen to you. It's scary. If you're with people that you don't trust they
could do anything to you. Anything can happen and that's the scary part."

A 19-year-old girl commented, "More people here do drugs than any other
place I've lived. I've lived in Vancouver, Kelowna and Penticton."

One 18-year-old says she sees drug abuse worsening. "There's lots of soft
drugs, pot and crystal meth, lots of crack cocaine and heroin. Ecstasy is
really bad here. There are 13 and 14-year-olds doing it. It's disturbing.
When I was 13 I was worried about armpit hair not drugs."

But Sgt. Bob Reuter Of the Oliver RCMP downplayed the drug problem saying,
"I wouldn't say it's any worse here."

"I haven't heard anything here about ecstasy," added Sgt. Reuter. "But it's
fairly accessible to get in most places so there's no reason to think that
it hasn't been in use at some point here."

Sgt. Ted Cronmiller from the Osoyoos RCMP detachment said, "Certainly
there's drugs in Osoyoos. I wouldn't deny that but to say it's epidemic, I
wouldn't go there. I came from the Coast and I saw a lot more there. Hard
drugs we don't see very often. We hear about crystal meth, crack cocaine
and some heroin."

"There's lots of marijuana grow operations here," added Sgt. Cronmiller.
"That a big problem to us."

Osoyoos detachment has had several major seizures of marijuana grow ops in
the past year. The biggest one was last Easter with about 4,000 plants
seized from a packinghouse. It was a state-of-the art operation run by
organized crime from Vancouver.

Sgt. Reuter said some abusers resort to crime to support their habit.

"Cocaine is certainly more expensive so if a person doesn't have the money
they resort to criminal activities. It's a big part of the crime problems
we have. It's a catch 22."

He added that alcohol also contributes to criminal activity. "From what
we've seen we deal with more alcohol related problems with youth than drug
related."

Youth aren't the only drug abusers in the South Okanagan.

Dr. Dimma said, "It's not just among the teenagers but among the parents as
well."

Sgt. Reuter agreed saying, "There is a group of hard-core adult drug
abusers here. About 20-30 adults using hard drugs like heroin and cocaine."

This was echoed by one of the 18-year-old girls who said, "I've lived here
for four years and have seen a lot of drugs but it's not just the young
people. There's an older crowd in their early 20s heavy into drugs here."

Bell said teenagers don't like to admit they take harder drugs. "Teenagers
may brag about drinking or doing soft drugs but with crack cocaine it's
pretty hush hush. It's still considered dirty."

Bell said there are warning signs of a teen in trouble that he watches. "I
keep an eye out for kids going over the deep end and hook them up with
counsellors. If they're throwing up at the (convenience store) on a
Wednesday afternoon there's a problem. If they're taking drugs or alcohol
during school, there's a problem."

He added, "I hang out with them and try to make sure that they are making
good judgment calls and get on their case. Sometimes teenagers lack good
judgment. The same kid who gets an A on calculus may get drunk and drive
his car fast."

No doubt drugs on Osoyoos and Oliver streets are easy to get. As easy as
going to the corner candy store.

One of the 18-year-olds said, "You can ask for anything and I could
probably get it for you."