TEENS SAY THEY HAVE ACCESS, BUT LITTLE TASTE FOR BOOZE, DRUGS

WE MEET again.

The first time, these youngsters were in Grade 6 and had agreed to help me
with some research.

I was curious about how invasive drugs were in our schools, especially at
the lower levels.

I picked a Halifax school at random and these four white, middle-class
youngsters volunteered to talk with me about drugs; to be my sounding board.

That was 16 months ago. Now here they are in junior high, the danger years
for kids and their first drug encounters, according to stories I've read.

Erin, Grace and Marco are 12; Freddie is 13. They attend Cornwallis Junior
High in Halifax.

(We're using pseudonyms, the same ones as last time. I'm hoping it'll
encourage them to speak more frankly with me.)

Sixteen months ago, we had a wide-ranging chat about drugs, tobacco and booze.

As near as I could tell, except for the odd puff of a cigar or sip of
alcohol at a family occasion, these kids were clean. And they assured me
they hadn't tried drugs or been exposed to them.

So has anything changed for them in 16 months?

I gaze around at the unlined young faces.

"Have any of you tried cigarettes since last we met?" I ask.

"Nothing but second-hand smoke," says Grace, grimacing.

"I had a puff of my dad's cigar," admits Freddie. "I'm not going to try it
again because you can get tongue cancer."

"How about alcohol?" I ask.

A few nods this time.

Freddie has had a sip of beer from his dad.

"I didn't like the taste," he tells me. "I prefer orange pop."

Marco owns up to a sip of champagne New Year's Eve.

Same thing with Erin, plus a sip of beer.

"And some Baileys, with my parents," she says.

Grace says she tried a little wine over New Year's "and got sick."

"I put cranberry juice in it; it tasted better!"

Marco says he tried a little rum and eggnog on Christmas Eve.

"I took a sip; it burned my throat."

All four youngsters seem quite comfortable with their limited encounters
with alcohol.

"It's not like me going out with friends," Freddie protests. "I'm doing
this with my family."

Now the big question.

"How about drugs?" I ask them. "Have you done any drugs, or run into any in
junior high?"

They shake their heads.

"I've never done drugs," says Freddie, "but if I had, I don't think I'd say
so." He nods to where a teacher is unobtrusively chaperoning us over in a
corner.

Grace says she hasn't done drugs, but she knows about them.

"I'd know what they look like, if I saw them," she tells me.

I'm startled. "How's that?"

It turns out to be quite innocent. Seems her class has done a project
identifying different kinds of illegal substances.

"I've never been offered drugs," says Freddie. "I know they're around here
(but) not at this specific school."

"So where are they?" I quiz him.

He says there are drugs at the "bowl" on the Halifax Commons where
skateboarders gather.

"I never knew last year about that stuff," he exclaims. "I kind of see it now."

Although none of them has been offered drugs, several have friends who have.

"One of them tried weed," says Marco. "He had a major hangover the next
day. He said he didn't want to try it again."

I ask them about drug dealers.

"Are there any around the school?"

Again, much shaking of heads.

"Our school is a good family school compared to some," says Erin.

Grace feels the main drug pressure is on 16-year-olds.

"Because they're a little bit older and have friends who can have drugs."

"Drug dealers don't go around offering," Freddie explains. "If you want
them, you'll get them."

He adds that he knows people who have drugs.

"They're not my best friends," he assures me hurriedly.

I mention all the anti-drug propaganda flying around these days.

"Do young people notice it?" I ask. "Are you taking it to heart?"

Silence.

"There's so much of it!" says Freddie at last.

Erin nods. "There's so much of it that it gets annoying after a while. All
those ones on smoking!"

Says Fred, "There's so much that you kind of ignore it."

"What about peer pressure," I ask. "Doesn't it play a part in drug use?"

Not really, says Erin. "It's not like, do this or we'll kill you, like I
thought it would be. It's more . . . easygoing."

The youngsters acknowledge the media's role in peer pressure. Erin mentions
watching TV shows like Degrassi High and bracing for similar dramatic
situations in her own life.

So far, they haven't happened.

"But we don't know anything else," she says, frowning.

Marco believes the drug scene is starting to fade.

"Now they're using marijuana for medical use," he reminds me.

Erin stirs. "Last year, we were younger; drugs seemed a big thing," she
observes. "This year, we're mature."

When we're finished, the youngsters head back to class, leaving me more
confused than ever.

Are today's kids heavy into drugs or not? Were they ever? Is it really as
safe out there as these four kids would have me believe? Or have I still
not heard the whole story?

"See you in Grade 9," I murmur, staring after the departing youngsters.