Pubdate: Fri, 05 Oct 2007 Source: Ottawa Sun (CN ON) Copyright: 2007 Canoe Limited Partnership Contact: http://www.ottawasun.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/329 Author: Jon Willing, Sun Media Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mjcn.htm (Marijuana - Canada) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/coke.htm (Cocaine) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mdma.htm (Ecstasy) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/rehab.htm (Treatment) TEENS' DRUG CABINET FAR FROM BARE: COKE, ECSTASY USE ON RISE If Ottawa high schools make up a city within a city, then students' drug habits are reflecting the greater population. While marijuana and alcohol continue to be the key vices for teens, a youth intervention co-ordinator with Ottawa police says cocaine is an emerging concern. Louise Logue doesn't believe cocaine use is rampant among teens, but she's seen enough cases for her to put up warning flags. "It's certainly enough to keep me in business," Logue says. Across the city, police in 2006 recorded a 57% increase in incidents involving cocaine from the previous year, so perhaps it's only natural that the trend be partially reflected in the drug behaviour of youth. Police investigated at least 137 drug complaints at high schools in 2006, according to statistics obtained by The Sun. Schooling Affected The incidents include drug complaints, seizures and ongoing investigations. Logue says drug-using teens who are arrested for drug-related offences don't realize their schooling can be affected. Volunteer jobs, which count toward students' mandatory volunteer hours, can be at risk if an employer uncovers a blemish in a background check. It seems there's never a shortage of work for Logue, who has been working with teens for more than 30 years. "I've never been busier," she says. While booze and pot are always on the radar, so is ecstasy, which Logue says has been a "mainstay" in youth drug culture. High schools partner with city social agencies, such as Maison Fraternite, Dave Smith Treatment Centre and Rideauwood Addiction Services, in offering drug and alcohol counselling to students. At St. Peter High School, for example, counsellors from Rideauwood visit with students between one and two days a week on a referral basis. Principal Sue Arbour praises the addictions program, but she says it can be expensive for schools to maintain. 'Tremendous Increase' "It's a nice tool for parents to get ongoing counselling," Arbour says. Joan Leadbeater-Graham, who oversees Rideauwood's school-based teen substance abuse program, says there has been a "tremendous increase" in alcohol and drug use among young people in the past two decades. "Police are being kept busy, as are school officials," Leadbeater-Graham says. Rideauwood counsellors saw roughly 550 students in 22 high schools in 2006. On the Rise Well over half of the students are using alcohol and marijuana as primary drugs, Leadbeater-Graham says. Cocaine is "definitely on the rise," she says, noting the drug is next in line behind alcohol, marijuana and ecstasy in terms of substances students abuse. Both Leadbeater-Graham and Logue describe today's society as one that doesn't treat marijuana use with the seriousness it deserves. "It's not the same marijuana that was in the '60s," Logue says. Leadbeater-Graham says pot has become more of a hard drug because of its potency. It has become obvious that Ottawa needs to place greater emphasis on treatment programs for youth, especially in the form of a residential program, Leadbeater-Graham says. "It has not had the will to be funded," she says. "Treatment is prevention." - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake