Pubdate: Mon, 05 Nov 2001 Source: Sudbury Star (CN ON) Copyright: 2001 The Sudbury Star Contact: http://www.thesudburystar.com Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/608 Author: Harold Carmichael Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/youth.htm (Youth) PROGRAM HELPS FIGHT STUDENT DRUG USE Survey Finds Drug Use Starting As Early As Grade 7 A recent drug-use survey involving 5,000 students in southern Ontario has found solvent and soft drug use showing up as early as Grade 7 - two grades earlier than was the case in a previous survey in 1997. Results of such a survey in Northern Ontario communities would likely find numbers even more upsetting, says one of three professionals involved in a made-in-Sudbury program for students recovering from substance abuse. "The numbers for Northern Ontario will be even higher as Northern Ontario cities are isolated," said Gord Payne, who is involved with the six-year-old Building on Our Strengths Together (BOOST) program involving the Rainbow District School Board, Pinegate Addiction Service and the Regional Children's Psychiatric Centre. Started in 1995, the BOOST program has seen more than 175 students enrolled. The day treatment program features a three-pronged approach as students can earn academic credits while receiving mental health and addiction counselling. Urine tests are conducted weekly, and if a student fails the test, he or she is kicked out of the program. A maximum of 10 high-school aged students can be enrolled in the 10-week program each school year. As of next week, five will be enrolled this year. Funded by the provincial ministries of Education and Health, BOOST is the only program of its kind in Ontario. Payne said what is shocking about the findings of the most recent Addiction Research Foundation survey, conducted in 1999, is that not only did it find students were into 20 types of drugs from Grade 7 until graduation, but the percentages of use with drugs such as cannabis and ecstasy are also up considerably from the last survey in 1997. - --- MAP posted-by: Beth