ISLAND 'DARES' TO KEEP KIDS DRUG FREE

When Bruce Dow asks students in grades four and five if they've heard
about crystal meth, he's no longer surprised when they all lift up
their hand.

The same thing goes for alcohol, marijuana, cocaine and
solvents.

"They know what this stuff is. Kids grow up fast these days," he said.
"There is a drug problem in the middle school and kids are aware of
the issues."

Drugs on Salt Spring are nothing new. When Dow attended school on the
island more than 20 years ago, marijuana was readily available.

He remembers being offered his first cigarette when he was only 11
years old.

The idea that Salt Spring's isolation protects children from drugs, he
said, is nothing more than a myth.

In Dow's experience, the problem isn't so much kids knowing about
drugs and alcohol, but a lack of background needed to make the right
decisions.

To keep children informed, Dow, an auxiliary officer with the Salt
Spring RCMP, makes regular appearances in island schools where he
leads DARE, the Drug Abuse Resistance Education program.

Parents and teachers created DARE in response to the rising number of
younger crack and cocaine users in Los Angeles during the early 1980s.

"The 'just say no' approach doesn't work," he said. "Kids are too
smart for that, they ask questions. We want to give kids the knowledge
they need to make the right choices."

Dow's task comes at a time when the RCMP, teachers and parents are
trying hard to keep children away from a whole new breed of drugs.

Use of crystal meth on Salt Spring is nowhere near what it is on
Vancouver Island or in the Lower Mainland, although charges involving
the inexpensive and highly addictive drug have been seen at the
island's courthouse.

"What we are finding is that there seems to be a rise in the number of
youth at risk in the 12- to 15-year range," said Sgt. Danny Willis of
the Salt Spring Island RCMP. "Recently they've been out and about and
are on the fringes of getting into trouble. If that's not addressed
it's likely to be a larger problem."

The RCMP's response is to target drug traffickers, develop
intelligence networks, keep an ear to the ground and keep pushing for
more resources.

"We're not just going to let it happen," he said. "If anybody has
inside information, they can feel free to tell us about it."

The DARE program's benefits are difficult to measure, although
educating a younger generation is believed to decrease addiction rates.

Since taking on the role as Salt Spring's community-based drug and
alcohol counsellor, Carolyn Flam has spent a lot of her time talking
to island students. Everyone caught using drugs on school property
gets the mandatory visit with Flam.

The only way to learn what impact today's lectures, surveys and
questionnaires are having is to monitor the children as they become
adults.

"That involves following them closely as they grow up," she
said.

Flam has found some students are informed about drugs because of
friends and families, while others have little clue about what is
available or the potential consequences.

Unfortunately, she added, both groups are equally at risk of
developing addiction problems.

"We've got to find a middle ground," she said. "What I'm trying to do
is make contact."