The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

MPP has the answer Mr Miller The Acton Free Press Wed March Reed investigating Keith Leslie Raise drinking age save millions self serve stations Hills councillors where motorists can Raising the legal drinking age in Ontario to from lis could save the provincial government much if not all the million which Heal Minister Frank Miller is attempting to pare from the budget this year Mr Miller has ordered the closing of hospitals in and the removal of beds and some services from others in an effort to save money According to figures from the Addiction Research Foundation the government spends in excess of mill ion annually on treatment of alcohol abuse- related illness and Injury These figures were raised during a seminar on the prob lems of youth drinking held at Sheridan College last week as part of a provincewide an interministerial panel headed by Mississauga North Terry Jones Mr Jones responded to a question from the audience concerning loss of revenue from alcohol taxes If the drinking age was raided by saying the would save a great deal more money than It would lose if the age is raised Mr Jones produced is tics showing that a full per cent of all traffic accid are alcohol related while counsellor Peter Marks hnd even more con elusive proof While costs for alcohol related treatment have not been broken down into age groups ARF studies in London show that the rate for IB yearolds in the year which followed the lowering of the drinking age from to IB in had risen 300 per cent while the number of accidents for yearolds in the area had risen per cent We arc faced with some statistics that are compelling and startling the MPP told the audience of about 150 We are finding an increas ing number of younger and younger ages are drinking or experimenting with alcohol and this Is shocking He cited statistics which showed that 92 per cent of all grade students are involved with alcohol while 51 per cent of grade seven students have 1 men ted with the drug There was a 160 per cent increase in use by people aged 16 and 17 In the first year after the legal age was changed Drinkers at an early age have greater chance of suffering permanent brain damage than do older people said Mr Jones This causes a rippling effect which creates more medical costs when the drinker is older There is medical proof that while it takes an average individual is years to become an alcoholic young people can take only 15 months before they suffer irreparable brain damage he said Mr Marks said the figure million was extremely conservative and the real figure was much higher It only been in recent years that a few doctors not the majority but a few have started coming to terms with pointing out alcoholism in families he said and the fear of losing for the doctors reticence in naming alcohol as the cause of an illness Six per cent of all age groups over IB are chronic alcoholics said Mr Marks There no doubt that alcohol is the number one killer in the world Mr Marks also pointed out that each alcoholic usually has a negative affect on the lives of three other people whether they be at work or in their family Using the six per cent figure he explained that this meant a full cent of the population are adversely MPP TERRY JONES with mike answers a question from the audience With him on the panel at Sheridan are from the left Jim Fuller Halton Family Court Judge Chief Ken Skerrett Halton Regional Police Peter Marks Addiction Research Foundation Peter Heimler Deputy Prime Minister at Oak ville Trafalgar High School Peter Young Youth Services Network Oakville affected by alcoholism in their lives Mr Miller has not issued a public policy statement con cerning the drinking age Issue but a spokesman for his ministry said alcohol and drug abuse the most icult and frustrating problem he has to face in his duties He will make his views known when it comes in front of the Cabinet Your own control The spokesman said the Ministry of Healths alcohol rehabilitation efforts have focused on education pro- crams aimed at the social drinker not the hard core alcoholic The program in eludes such things as dctoxlcation centres staff by former alcoholics in of police drunk tanks and the you are your own liquor control board public campaigns Mr Jones will present his findings along with his recommendations for solving the drinking problem to Premier William Davis and the full Cabinet April plte the possible savings he said money has not become an issue in his study Mr Jones has the option of recommending the age be changed to or out he said there were legal matters related to the age of majority which drinking is a part which have to be considered Hills councillors aren t the only politicians concerned about the mush rooming number of self serve gas outlets Ontario Liberal Consumer and Commercial relations critic and Hal tonBurlington MPP Julian Reed said in an interview this week he has been investigating the self serve situation for over three months now It is becoming a real prob lem with self serve stations declared Reed claims petroleum firms say they don t want to see the independent retailer run out of business but then they turn around and sell gas cheaper lo the self serve Anytime you see gas cheaper than three cents below the price at manned pumps you know the station is getting its gas cheaper Reed explained He is concerned about self serve stations putting indep endent retailers out of bus iness and wonders how much cheaper self serve gas will be it the day ever arrives the self serve stations don t the effects of the mushroom ing number of self serve ions on the mechanical end of the gas station business While he doesn t think there will be a shortage of places where motorists can get their cars repaired he does think self serve stations will force labor costs up If the gas station owner has to make all his money servicing cars it will make repairs more expensive for theconsumer Reed predicted In many cases the oil companies will run the self serve pumps and the mechanic will rent the service bays Say a person goes in for an oil change and a lube job He doesn control the petroleum end of things so he doesn make any money on the oil or grease so lo regain profit labor costs have to go up Self serve stations are a great concern of mine because they are destroying the livelihood of the independent retailer Legion A membership campaign is underway at the Legion Total membership last year was and executive mem expect it will increase to by the end of this month Award Nominations for the Charles Thompson award will be discussed at the next meeting of the recreation advisory committee Tuesday March 10 weed inspector Keith Leslie will be Invited to attend a Halton Hills committee meeting touelf he Is interested in serving as the towns weed Inspector again this year The Ministry of Agriculture and Food has advised the town it must appoint an specter by the end of the moo- Engineer Robert Austin saidhedidnt think Mr Leslie will accept the position unless he gets a raise this year He warned if the town has to go out and find a new or the Queens Park dead line won be met Works committee alto decided Monday it must sit down soqn and come up with a new weed inspection complete with new a lions and ways of en forcement Five charges in disturbance As a result of a disturbance at the Station Hotel Saturday night one Acton man and four Toronto men were charged with causing a dis turbance Students are looking forward to their winter holiday break which starts March and runs to March Alcohol number one killer worse than marijuana panel There is no doubt that is the number one killer m the world according to Addiction Research Founda lion representative Peter Marks Mr Marks chaired a sem inar on youth and alcohol abuse at Sheridan College in last week part of a province wide study by the Ontario Government to deter mine the amount of alcohol abuse in Ontario since the le gal drinking age was lowered to la from in 1971 The study headed by Mississauga North Terry Jones has been crossing the province talking to school groups pol ice chiefs politicians and other interested parties lo find a way lo cut down on the incidence of alcoholism and alcohol abuse by young people May change The committee will go be fore Premier William Davis and the full Cabinet April 1 with its recommendations The number one issue is whe ther to change the drinking age back to Mr Jones has been told by youths that there Is no bar in County which underage people cannot get into He said drinking among people aged 16 and 17 rose 160 per cent in the first year after the law was changed The other major issue and perhaps an even more contro versial one is the relation ship between drugs and alco hol Mr people have told him during his study that they have noticed a pronounced decrease in the illegal use or drugs by teen since they have started drinking When the law was changed and the away from drugs began many groups looked upon the switch as a good step in the belief found ed on thousands of years of drinking in our society that drugs were much more dangerous than drink Mr Marks said this wrong attitude is perhaps the big Best problem which faces the committee Although Mr Jones expressed his dence in today teenagers saying they were better educated in regard to drugs and that he doubted there would be a resurgence in drug use if the drinking age was raised the problem still re mained If the drinking age is raised it is almost definite hat there will be an increase in the use of drugs he felL In this case it is the adults who need to be educated said Mr Marks I seen many kids and adults go through a heavy drug using habit for two or three years who go on to very productive lives Marks told the audience of 150 The long term effects of alcohol are far worse I m not advo cating the legalizing of man or loosening the laws but studies have not shown any long term physical dam age or brain damage from the use of marijuana My point he told this newspaper later is that we can just say drugs are drugs and lump them to gether Grass is less physi addictive than alcohol although it does have its pro blems The Addiction Research Foundation has recommend the drinking age be return to Marks said he be lieves Mr Jones realizes that alcohol is worse than grass I think Jones has realized this because of the number of case studies he has seen over the past few months but I think there are many politi cians who haven t had the time or experiences to realize Peter deputy prime minister of Ihe student council at Trafalgar High School told the panel young people are a lot more educated about drugs and its effects Five years ago he also described drinking experiences he had witnessed among his peers saying drinking is num one sport in high schools on the weekends He said vomiting could become some thing to brag about on Mon day morning at school and that in some peer groups this was looked upon as desirable Other members of the suggested that peer pressures and the pressures in society today were to be blamed for the increase in drinking How do you expect 16 year olds to handle the sure when there arc so many adults that can one dent asked Mr Jones is expected lo suggest a vastly improved educational system be set up with more emphasis on the bad effects of drinking This is a part of the pro blem which particularly irks Mr Marks who blamed the lack of interest from schools for much of the problem Every high school pnnci pal in the area was contacted and every school board trus lee was contacted Where were they al the meeting asked Mr Marks said most kids if they choose the right op tions in school only receive about hours a year of In dealing with alcohol If they choose other options he said they might rectivt none at all He lerm incredible inviewof the proportions of the pro blem in this province Should Mr Jones recom mend raising the drinking age the provincial govern be faced with the le gal problems which tic drink ing with the age of majority The right to drink was includ with vobng rights mar land owning and other freedoms when the laws were changed Mr Jones said he was worried about creating dls regard for the law by taking away a right that has been given to someone He said the legal aspect was one of the reasons the drinking age was changed in 1971 to grant full adult status to people IS and over By April 1 Mr Jones will have to tell Ihe whether mat was a mistake What you dont know about your water heater may shock you Brand New Toyota Corolla Speaker at Y program John McDonald who writes the popular historical series in The Free Press is guest speaker at the Ladles J Takea Break at the this morning Wednesday Your money can buy more new car at PARK TOYOTA HWY WEST GEORGETOWN A blast of cold water may wake you up to it The fact is it may be time to replace your present gas water heater with a new Gulfstream But chances are youll wait until your present one develops a leak and then do something about it But long before then it may be cost ing you time and convenience because your present one may simply not be delivering hot water when you need it Most often this is caused by the dish washer clothes washer and additional family you didnt have when your tank was installed So today when you need hot water more often your old system cant keep up Remember A larger storage tank doesnt supply a larger volume of hot water Gulfstream natural gas water heaters work on the principle of fast reheating of water rather than storage So you may draw off hot water when required hour after hour instead of waiting for large volumes of water to heat up What were saying is simple When it comes to replacing your present system remember Gulfstream You can lease one or buy one depending on your choice Youll rind its an economical and efficient way to have hot water on hand when you need it But then if youve owned a Gulfstream water heater before that wont come as a shock to you LIMITED