Pubdate: Fri, 08 Mar 2002
Source: South Delta Leader (CN BC)
Copyright: 2002 South Delta Leader
Contact:  http://www.southdeltaleader.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1241
Author: Philip Raphael

DEALING WITH DRUGS

While society's increasing acceptance of drug use is one of the main 
reasons parenting has become an increasingly difficult challenge, most 
youngsters are not a problem.

That was the message a panel of educators, school counsellors, police 
officers and youth workers delivered to a group of roughly 140 concerned 
parents attending Delta Secondary school's first drug awareness talk on 
Tuesday night.

Tom Hetherington from the provincial ministry of children and family told 
the audience, which included a few school-age children who had accompanied 
their parents, that, "Kids are doing okay. Most kids are good kids. They 
may experiment with one thing (drug) or another, but most kids are going to 
be alright, and it's important that you remember that."

While that was reassuring, Hetherington added that a study by the ministry 
of children and family in 1999 indicated that drugs have become 
increasingly available to the point where one respondent to the study said, 
"It's easier to get cocaine and heroin than order a pizza."

He added the availability of marijuana in the Lower Mainland has also 
increased due to tightened security at the Canada-U.S. border crossings 
after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. The stricter border inspections have 
backed up the marijuana supply normally smuggled to U.S. markets and sent 
it to the local streets.

"Our society and culture is moving, and continues to move, towards 
tolerance of marijuana use," he said. "It's now socially acceptable, and 
kids have trouble thinking of it as a drugS And the use of marijuana is 
associated with a whole range of high risk behaviours. So, it's an 
indicator that if a kid is smoking pot that they have presumptions about 
other health concerns," he said.

Continued reason for optimism though is that British Columbia has the 
lowest cigarette smoking levels in Canada, a fact that may translate into 
lower drug use rates since legalized drugs such as alcohol and tobacco can 
act as 'gateway' drugs to other harsher drugs.

Other soothing thoughts for parents is that most people mature out of drug 
use. "What I mean by that is you are 19 or 20 and out of school. You are 
out of college or something, and you maybe drinking a lot of beer and 
partying, but by 24 you likely have a job, kids, a wife or a husband, and 
you just can't do drugs that way anymore," he said. "So, life kind of gets 
in the way."

How parents deal with their child who may be exposed to drug use is one of 
the most challenging aspects of parenting today because today's youngsters 
seem to lack an inner compass to decide right from wrong, said Delta 
Secondary vice principal Carol Becir. And that stems from a number of 
factors that includes less supervision and meaningful contact with adults.

She added that studies have shown that 30 years ago adults spent 40 per 
cent more time with their children than they do today. And as a result, 
kids increasingly turn to peers for guidance in morality.

She added that one of the most successful tools a parent can use is model 
behaviour when it comes to their own use of alcohol or drugs.

One panel member who sees the affects of drugs on youth in the school 
system was Jolie Rochard, Delta Secondary's recently appointed healthy 
lifestyles counsellor. She told the crowd that parents should not be afraid 
to ask their children questions about their activities, stressing that, 
"Checking up on your child is not an invasion of privacy."

Reinforcing that drug use is not a problem isolated to the user was Const. 
Galeb Bhayani, who spent several years in the drug section of the Delta 
Police department.

He said the growing incidences of marijuana grow operations in residential 
neighbourhoods can lead to violence affecting innocent bystanders.

"The bad guys growing marijuana know other bad guys," he said. "So when 
they want to go steal their marijuana in what is called a 'rip', they may 
do a drive by shooting, kick down a back door to the house. But what if 
they get the wrong house? What if they get your house because they are off 
one or two digits?

"The next thing you know there's a gun battle in your neighourhood." But 
the pubic can fight back if they know how to recognize some of the telltale 
signs that a drug operation has set up shop in their neighbourhood, Bhayani 
said.

In general, rental properties are used as a base of operations, he said. 
And often they are run-down and generate high amounts of traffic, people 
and vehicles, at unusual times during the day and night.

"I had one call from a resident in North Delta who said they had neighbours 
who moved in the other day," he said. "They saw them back up a moving truck 
to the house and unloaded a whole bunch of boxes but had no furniture." If 
residents are suspicious of their neighbours, police recommend they contact 
the police and do not confront the suspects.
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MAP posted-by: Terry Liittschwager