PAGE 12.WEDNESDAY. JULY 9. 1986 WHITBY FREE PRESS Substance abuse among young on the rise By JAN DODGE Free Press Staff Summer may be a time when the living is easy, but it is also a time when booze and pot use go up among the young. Bil Smith, substance abuse counsellor for the Durham Board of Education, said because it stays lighter later, young people stay outdoors longer, drinking and smoking -up in groups without having to worry about parents or othersupervisingadults. In the last school year (1985- 1986) Smith said his case load of substance abusers was 197, up from 150 in the previous year. The board policy instituted last November, which allows for a 10- day suspension if a student is un- der the influence at a school dance or on a school outing may be, i part, responsible for the increase Smith sald. He is also getting more student and parent referrals. Students who have been helped by counselling are now referring their friends and "parents are more attunde to knowing there is something wrong with their son or daughter," he said. The students Srith sees corne mostly fromgrades 7 to 13, ages 12 to 19, although he sometimes gets younger students, such as the grade 6 boy who was a "full-blown alcoholic". "Alcohol is the number one problem," Smith said, "followed FROM PG, 10 Elderobie In addition to the week-long individually calculated walking record, the seniors' cen- tre staged a group walk on Friday, May 30 in which 44 seniors par- ticipated adding their by marijuana and then acid (LSD) and angel dust (PCP)." The highly addictive "crack" is available in Durham Region too, although it is not a problem for students yet, he said. This new cocaine based street drug comes in little finger-sized sticks and is usually broken up and smoked. The fast high lasts about three minutes, but the crash is devastating and it can be addictive after as little as three uses. "Booze and drugs are just the tip of the iceberg for a whole range of problems," Smith said. It is these underlying problems with family, with boyfriend or girlfriend, and with group acceptance that make students look to alcohol or drugs for solutions, Smith said.' Problems with marks in school, and the questions of what young people want to be, what courses they should take, and whether they can afford to stay in school are also contributing factors for substance abuse he said. If teenaged children change friends, if there is money missing around the house or from bank ac- counts, if there are unexplained purchases, if there is a drap in marks, a change in attitudes, if the teenager spends a lot more tie in his room, or if school absenteeism goes up on Fridays and Mondays, parents have reason to suspect their teenager may be involved withalcohol or drugs. (Fridays are "buy days" and Mondays are Moonwalk mileage to the in- dividual walking record to corne up with the 577 mile total. That total was sent in to the Elderobic Moonwalk national organizers. - According to Whitby's seniors' activities direc- tor Fay McCorkell, local organizers of the walk were hoping to double last year's total of 308.5 miles. This year's total of 577 was not far short of that goal. recovery days.) Ten Durham students were iden- tified as pushers last year, and three of those were arrested. For the student population this is a small number, but Smith said there could be more. "It's very dif- ficult for police to make an arrest, because they have to catch the of- fenders right in the act. And users don't tell who, the pushers are." Most pushers are non-students, he said. Smith, who along with a worker from Pinewood, the detoxification centre for Oshawa General Hospital, is responsible for sub- stance abuse problems arising among the 48,000 students in Durhai, said it is still a minority who need his services, but society does have a problem. Males predominate over females in his case load, "not because males are more into the drug scene, but because their circle of friends is larger. It's a macho kind of thing...When a girl gets involved- she usually gets in deeper as a result of real problems. "Advertising has a lot to do with it. Young people see a bunch of good looking guys and girls having a good time, drinking beer, and they thing, 'Hey, this is the life'." Smith said It is possible that slogans like 'You've come a long way baby' were responsible for the increase in smoking among young women. Most substance abuse such as drinking and smoking pot is done, in groups, on weekends and evenings, hence the importance of. peer pressure. A couple of teens begin experimenting and then they involve their friends. Glue sniffing, however, which usually involves younger students is practised by loners, and thus can be very dangerous. Because there is no one around to help, the user may suffocate. The counselling Smith does is a long process he said. "You never know if a person is cured. She/He may stop for six months and then, like the adult alcoholic, go back to using." Smith said he is working on in- service training for teachers to help control substance abuse. "Teachers won't have to be exper- ts on drugs; theywill teach studen- ts how to say 'No', how to deal with peer pressure, and who to go to for help." The Durham branch of the Canadian Addiction Foundation has put in a proposal to the Ministry of Health for a residential treatment centre for adults. Some day Smith would like to see a youth residential centre as well, but he admits it's. hopeful thinking right now. Follow-up is an important part of substance abuse counselling. Smith encourages students as well as parents to keep in touch, and he contacts them on a regular basis "to let students know I'm suppor- ting them. That's what they need most". As with the cure for most bad habits, it means a change in lifestyle and a maintenance of that new lifestyle in order to be suc- cessful. "Many times I can help," Smith said. "I don't win them all, although I'd like to." Youth Action camp now started The Catholic Youth Organization (CYO) of Whitby will be running the Whitby Youth Action summer camp for boys and girls aged six to 12 from now until the end of August. The camp, which took the summer off last year, ran for five years previously and is funded by the Federal gover- nment. It will run out of St. John the Evangelist Church and separate school on Cochrane St. and the cost is $12 per week per child. There will also be an ad- ditional cost of $2 per week for the kids to go swimming twice a week. For those who may have difficulty affording the camp, project manager Samantha Mildren said special arrangements can be made. Mildren also said that while the camp is run by the CYO, it will be non- denominational. Besides the swim- ming, during the sum- mer the kids will have an opportunity to try their hands at arts and crafts, play games and even take trips. But the camp is not only looking for kids. According to Mildren councillors in training are also needed. "We're looking for students or people with no summer jobs who want to work with children. We'll train them to be councillors," shesaid. The camp runs from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday to Friday. To register or for more information cail Samantha Mildren at 668-9401. COLLECT COLOURFUL IHIBA 4ASSES With 25 litre purchase Plus tax 509 Dundas Street West Whitby 666-1502 G9 M SUNOCO 114