Community awareness is required to prevent substance abuse by youth

Parents should take the time to talk to their children about avoiding dangerous choices

The recent death of a 14-year-old girl in Laval sent lawmakers in Ottawa and Quebec City scrambling to deal with the widespread availability of pre-mixed, sugary, high-alcohol drinks marketed to appeal to younger people. Athena Gervais had reportedly consumed FCKD UP, a sugary alcohol drink, before she disappeared. Her body was found in a stream near her high school on March 1. This week, the federal government launched a spring consultation process to amend food and drug regulations and impose new restrictions on sweetened drinks with alcohol content of between seven and 12 per cent. Quebec is also considering new regulations, namely to prohibit the sale of high-alcohol sugary drinks at dépanneurs and grocery stores and provide the Régie des alcools, des courses et des jeux with the authority to halt the production and distribution of such beverages. While any government action is commendable, it should be noted that it also takes community effort and awareness to prevent alcohol or drug abuse by young people. It’s an ongoing struggle. This week, Grade 6 students from schools in Dorval and Pointe-Claire will take part in the annual Substance Abuse Prevention Days hosted by the Montreal police Station 5, which will use hands-on activities, skits and simulators to enforce the need to make good choices in life. The aim is to educate preteens before they start high school next fall about the effects of high-risk behaviours such as smoking and consuming alcohol and drugs. Station 5 police officers work in collaboration with the RCMP, Urgences Santé, La Gang Allumée, Lester B. Pearson School Board, Commission scolaire Marguerite-Bourgeoys and McGill University’s International Centre for Youth Gambling and High Risk Behaviours. That field trip to the Sarto Desnoyer Community Centre will not only educate participating students, but it will serve to remind some parents that it’s futile to keep their heads buried inthesand. While some people are alarmed Ottawa plans to legalize recreational marijuana use, legal pot will be prohibited from being sold to minors, as are cigarettes and alcohol. Regardless, teens manage — one way or another — to get their hands on booze, smokes and drugs. Pot has been available illegally to West Island high school students for years, although some parents still react with shock when hearing this. Such was the case many years ago, when a success story about a West Island teen who had graduated from a substance abuse program at the Portage centre (then based in Beaconsfield) caused alarmed parents to call his former school principal. The teen, who had conquered his addiction and turned his life around, wasn’t identified in the story as he was a minor and not charged with a crime. However, the story did identify the PointeClaire high school he attended and where he said he had dealt drugs. The principal called me because I was the editor who had assigned the story. He said he was being bombarded by calls from parents who were upset to learn that drugs were available to students. The principal didn’t question any facts in the story. In fact, he said he actually helped the teen in question seek addiction treatment. He was simply dismayed the name of the school was mentioned, since realistically every high school faces similar drug-related concerns. West Islanders should be aware that the Portage youth rehab centre formerly located on Elm Ave. in Beaconsfield, which catered to Quebec’s English-speaking community, relocated to the Laurentians a few years ago when Batshaw Youth and Family Centres reclaimed the property for its own use. But Portage still has a local presence. It now operates an adolescent-program service centre on Revcon Ave. in PointeClaire ( just east of the St-Jean Blvd. at Brunswick Blvd.). So a few hundred Grade 6 students are learning an important lesson about alcohol and drug abuse this week in Dorval. What better time to remind parents to take a moment to talk to their kids about steering clear from making dangerous choices, whether high school is just around the corner or they’ve already moved on to college?

Pot has been available illegally to West Island high school students for years, although some parents still react with shock when hearing this.