Pubdate: Wed, 20 Dec 2006 Source: Tribune, The (CN ON) Copyright: 2006, Osprey Media Group Inc. Contact: http://www.wellandtribune.ca/webapp/sitepages/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2807 Author: Mark Tayti THINK TWICE ABOUT DRUGS Student Assembly at Lakeshore Catholic High School Gives Drugs A Failing Grade PORT COLBORNE - Donnie Edwards has travelled the country speaking to youth about the realities of drug abuse. On Tuesday he brought the message home to 1,200 students at Lakeshore Catholic High School. At first blush, Edwards might seem an unlikely candidate to deliver the message; but standing at the podium in a blue pinstripe suit, the chair of the Ontario Pharmacists' Association had the right prescription for getting under the skin of kids who know where the drugs are and how to get them. Armed with anecdotes, statistics, real-life stories and the promise not to lecture youth about the perils of drugs, Edwards offered up sad stories of lost potential, ruined lives and dire consequences. Through it all, he challenged the most-likely drug users in society - those age 15 to 20 - to think twice before they smoke that first joint or take that first mood-altering pill. An expert in the field of street drugs, Edwards has worked with all branches of Canadian law enforcement and has been privy to information that would send a chill down the spine of even the most skeptical drug user as to the harmful affects of both short- and long-term abuse. His one-hour plea to young people offers a matter-of-fact dialogue on where drugs can take teens. The final destination is far from pretty. Edwards searches out these bright-eyed students so that he doesn't have to meet them at his work place, Boggio Pharmacy, when they come in later in life to take advantage of the needle exchange program. He doesn't want to read about them in his local newspaper when they are 23 years old and dead because of an Oxycodone overdose. Edwards' path to the speaking circuit began a few years ago when he received a phone call concerning a person who had overdosed on Ketamine - known on the street as Special K. Now he talks to youth about everything from marijuana use to heroin addiction - hitting on all the popular drugs of choice that youth are exposed to on a daily basis: the painkiller Oxycodone, crystal methamphetamine, ecstasy, crack cocaine - all drugs that are out there and readily available if you know the right people. A quick show of hands during the morning assembly proved that at least 20 people in the auditorium Tuesday morning could get their hands on one illegal drug or another within 30 minutes. That would suggest the drugs are in the school. What better place for a pharmacist with a cautionary message about drug use to be. He said the show of hands is "typical" of most schools as he travels across the country informing students about the terrible odds they face when they go up against such dangerously addictive drugs as crystal meth. "Use it once and there is a 60 per cent chance of becoming addicted . use it twice and you're addicted." Of the 1,200 students lucky enough to hear Edwards speak Tuesday, 80 per cent will never have to worry about cocaine-induced psychosis or the myriad of troubles associated with drug abuse. However, statistically about 60 of those students are marked for disaster - about five per cent. "These are the people who are going to try drugs and love them ... who will spend every waking moment thinking about their drug-of-choice and use all their available resources to obtain it. They will lie, steal, sell their bodies. "If you have never used drugs before, don't start," Edwards said, making sure to punctuate his remarks with stories about young people with potential who threw it all away by giving into peer pressure or by thinking they would be the one to beat the odds. Like the cocaine addict, for instance, who tried crystal meth for the first time and stabbed his wife 40 times in a fit of rage; or like the young hockey player who was being scouted by the NHL until drugs became his only goal in life. Edwards also spoke about the rave drug ecstasy and how - while not addictive on its own - is laced with crystal methamphetamine to make it addictive. At the bottom of it all is the greed of drug dealers to sell more product to unsuspecting youth. "Lecturing you about drug addiction does not work,' he said. "I'm here to educate you." Edwards said developing a physical dependency on drugs can happen within seven days and those who take drugs quickly develop a "tolerance" - meaning it takes more drugs to get the desired effect. He also spoke about marijuana as a "gateway" drug that leads youth to harder drugs. "People who use marijuana are more likely to use other substances." Edwards also stressed there are serious consequences as a result of drug abuse. He spoke briefly about the needle exchange program at Boggio Pharmacy, describing it as a "harm reduction model," so those suffering from drug addiction don't have the added burden of hepatitis, HIV or other diseases associated with sharing needles. Edwards said the pharmacy is also involved in the Meth Watch program, whereby police are alerted when somebody comes in and purchases large amounts of pseudoephedrine, a key ingredient to making the drug that is readily sold in the form of Sudafed and other cold remedies. Other ingredients in making the highly volatile concoction include acetone, Liquid Drano, iodine, alcohol. "For every pound of crystal meth produced you get seven pounds of toxic waste," he said, adding the side effects of using the drug include diarrhea, nausea, weight loss, vomiting and anorexia. - --- MAP posted-by: Elaine