FIGHTING AGAINST ADDICTION

A few months ago Jamie Scriver was a very different person.

Instead of working hard at a job she enjoys, hanging out with her friends,
playing hockey and snowboarding, the active and intelligent 16-year-old was
spending every spare moment getting drunk and smoking marijuana.

"It was there and it was a cool thing to do I guess," said Scriver of
making the decision to continually party and abuse substances.

She would work twice a week and party for the remaining five. She was
hanging out with the wrong people, getting into fights and staying out all
night. The job she had enjoyed became drudgery because she felt so lousy
after a night of partying. She used substances as a way to escape from her
problems.

Scriver's mom, Terri, said she suspected something was wrong with Jamie but
wasn't sure what it was. As a parent, she hoped she had taught her daughter
well enough that she would make the right decisions. She also kept the
lines of communication open between her and her daughter.

Terri must have done a good job because only a few months into her
excessive party mode, Scriver hit an all time low and decided enough was
enough.

One night after drinking and smoking she and some friends stumbled around
Ladysmith in a stupor. Scriver was so drunk and high she stumbled into
traffic. Although she was not hurt and doesn't remember doing it, Sue
Howard, the youth and families addictions counsellor at Ladysmith Resources
Centre, saw Scriver out in the road and asked her to stop abusing her body.
Howard helped Scriver realize what she was doing to her body and her
future. And Scriver has now learned how to work through her problems by
talking to someone or writing them down and is looking forward to a
promising future in which she would like to be a paramedic.

"She has a smart head on her shoulders - I'm proud of her," said Terri with
a smile.

Although her abuse of substances didn't last long, Scriver said she has
learned her lesson.

"I don't recommend it to people and I won't go out and do it anymore," she
said. "Get counselling, get help. Talk to your friends about it or someone
you trust."

Scriver's experience is not unique in this community. According to Howard
the majority of the 12 to 19-year-old youth she works with abuse marijuana
and alcohol.

She doesn't see a lot of hard drugs in the community, but said cocaine use
is on the rise. Cocaine is often spread by older youth who come from larger
communities like Nanaimo and Duncan.

Howard said she rarely sees full-blown addiction to a substance in her
patients, just abuse of substances.

Substance abuse is often about something deeper than boredom. Youth often
express grief, frustration and anger by acting out and using substances.
But it doesn't make them bad kids.

"In Ladysmith a lot of kids have strong personal values but don't feel
heard," said Howard. "It's about hearing them."

Howard said parents need to empower themselves with information about
substances so they can effectively deal with a present or potential
problem. She said youth who insist on drinking or smoking marijuana need to
have a realistic and safe plan in place in case something serious happens
like alcohol poisoning. To aid parents in dealing with issues like
addictions, youth gambling and communicating effectively with children,
Howard will be hosting a series of information sessions through the
Empowering Parents Series. The sessions are scheduled to begin early next year.