Pubdate: Thu, 16 Feb 2012
Source: Abbotsford Times (CN BC)
Copyright: 2012 The Abbotsford Times
Contact:  http://www.abbotsfordtimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1009
Webpages: http://mapinc.org/url/ChyJV05B
Page: A3
Author: Rochelle Baker

PARENTS GET APD ECSTASY LETTER

Abbotsford Police and the school district are partnering in a 
campaign to educate parents and students about the risks associated 
with street drugs after a recent spate of ecstasy deaths.

Two young people in Abbotsford, 17-year-old Cheryl McCormack and 
Tyler Miller, 20, died in recent months after overdosing on the drug.

Another 24-year-old woman was hospitalized in critical condition 
after taking ecstasy on New Year's.

A wave of young people have died in both the Vancouver and Calgary 
areas after taking the drug, which in some instances has been laced 
with a toxic chemical.

The APD sent an information package home to school district parents 
this week as part of a larger, upcoming community and school-wide 
campaign to educate people about the risks of taking ecstasy, said 
Const. Ian MacDonald.

The objective of the fivepage letter is to first make direct contact 
with parents and provide them with the opportunity to educate 
themselves on the issue, said MacDonald.

"We want to give parents specific information about what's been 
happening in the community, the consequences of using street drugs 
and give them some tools," he said.

Providing the information to parents who then should have meaningful 
discussions with their children is a means to reduce the risk youth 
will experiment with ecstasy, he added.

The data package outlines reasons young people take drugs and the 
signs and symptoms of drug use.

It also provides approaches parents can use when talking to their 
children about drug use.

The APD has also set up a drug prevention section on its website, and 
will employ its youth help line, which is staffed 24/7, to respond to 
concerns that students, parents and youth in the community might 
raise about street drugs.

The police department is using the same approach it employed a few 
years ago to address the dangers of youth getting involved in gangs, 
said MacDonald.

"We're not preaching anything and we are not finger wagging," he said.

"We believe in our youth and want to give them information so they 
can make a choice, and by and large, the vast majority will make the 
right choice."

While it's important mentors such as parents, teachers and police 
officers guide youth, they ultimately make their own decisions, he said.

"It will come down to youth making a choice, and it's likely no one 
in authority will be in the room when they do it."

- - For more information visit www.abbypd.ca/Drug-Prevention . The 24/7 
Abbotsford Police Youth Help Line is 604-864-4787.
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MAP posted-by: Keith Brilhart