DRUG EXPERTS SAY DON'T OVERREACT

There is a tendency whenever teenagers or young adults hurt
themsleves as a result of engaging in an illicit activity, to call
for changes in the way we police such behaviour and a stepping up of
prevention measures.

Two recent deaths in Vancouver which officials are attributing to a
"bad batch" of the drug ecstasy, and the apparent non-fatal overdose
in Victoria last week by a 21-year-old woman, who police said likely
took a combination of ecstasy and GHB, the other designer drug making
the rounds with nightclub hoppers these days, have police and youth
workers on edge of late as they try to understand why "just say no"
campaigns aren't working.

But Dr. Sibylle Artz, director of the UVic school of child and youth
care, cautions against sensationalizing the use of such drugs or
focusing on youth as the biggest risk group for substance use or
abuse.

"The use of drugs is part of our culture, whether that's prescription
drugs or non-prescription drugs," she says.

"We've always medicated ourselves in one form or another. The biggest
drug we need to fear, no matter what anybody might point to at any
given time, is really alcohol."

Victoria High School Parents Advisory Committee co-chair Kate Cairns
says society's belief that it is much more acceptable to drink than
to do drugs determines a parent's response to stories of drug
overdoses.

"I think if you see an 18-year-old with a beer it doesn't have the
same ramifications as an 18-year-old with drugs, even though they're
both illegal," she says. "Because alcohol is legal for (adults), I
don't think it has the same shock value."

Dr. Gordon Barnes, a UVic professor in the child and youth care
faculty, has done plenty of research on the subject of drug use among
teens and young adults. He says experimenting with drugs is a
behaviour that seems to go in cycles, from one generation to the
next. And for some individuals, he says, it is an important stage in
their development into adulthood and a perfectly normal part of
growing up.

The natural reaction for parents and police, according to Barnes, has
been to focus on educating young people about the potential dangers
of taking drugs. But sometimes doing so has a negative effect. "If we
go overboard and make it sound like it's too bad, we lose our
credibility."

As for the amount of publicity generated when a young person
overdoses, he agrees with Artz that people need to temper it with the
fact many parallels can be drawn with the activities of previous
generations.

"I kind of think the public has a right to know. But we have to be
careful about not glamourizing these kinds of things."

He recalled a time during the 1960s when sniffing glue was all the
rage among thrill-seeking youth. The frequent media coverage given
the activity may have tended to prolong the problem, he says.

What concerns Cairns is the apparent potency of the drugs available
today. She says simply teaching about the potential dangers may not
be as effective as media coverage of extreme circumstances like fatal
overdoses.

Cairns adds word of mouth around the school or their circle of
friends about someone having a bad experience is likely to have more
impact than hearing an adult tell them not to do something.