17 - Wednesday, November 22, 1989 - North Shore News LOW SELF ESTEEM A MAJOR CAUSE OF SUBSTANCE ABUSE, SAY EXPERTS do kids take drugs? Why A’ CAONUMENTAL” lack of self esteem drives youths to drug abuse, and pre-adolescent drug education is required to give these youths the confidence to say ‘‘no”’ to drugs later on in high school. By ELIZABETH COLLINGS News Reporter These were two key ideas a panel of five experts in the drug and alcoho! abuse field told North Shore residents last week at a packed community meeting. The audience saw the premier screening of Can We Talk Abou: Adolescent Substance Abuse?, a video produced by West Van- couver producer/director Joanna Ashworth. The video identified a need of youths to be accepted by their peers which often jeads them along the path from using alcohol and drugs to abusing them. Drug abuse is considered the number one problem 5y the youth clientele at Alternatives, a North The crucial task of adolescents is to complete the sense of identity. ‘Who am I? Whatam I worth???’ — Psychologist Jessica Easton Shore-based treatment centre, said executive director Alan Pod- sadowski. Unemployment was fisted se- cond and alcohol third, lte said, noting that these youths were von- sidering alcohol and drugs to be separate problems. Often youths fear rejection and therefore find easier acceptance with drug use said Jessica Easton, a West Vancouver psychologist. “The crucial task of adolesce us is to complete the sense of identity. *Who am I? What am I worth?’ she added. Some youths will do almost any- thing to be accepted, said Colin Mangham, education director of Alcohol and Drug Education Ser- vices. One youth Mangham = knew found self-esteem by virtue of be- ing the drug pusher in his school. His peers needed him, Mangham said, and for that youth the risk involved in seliing drugs was worth the role it earned him. “Our young children need reas- surance. They need healthy models. They don't need us to be silent, they need a clear mess2ge,” Mangham said. Ross Ramsey, prevention and treatment consultant, echoed 2 EAN AE Me ESCH A beRST ES NEWS photos Eike Schroter THE VIDEO Can We Talk About Substance Abuse? proved an opportunity for residents of the North Shore community to do just that. Ross Ramsey, a prevention and treatment consultant, speaks to the audience as the panelists look on. (From left to right): moderator and journalist Denny Boyd, Alan Podsadowski, Jessica Easton, Colin Mangham, and Hannele Jantti. Mangham (inset) tells the audience that children need healthy.role models. Mangham's concerns, saying drug abusers are often followers who . 7 posite is true of youths who dort The only drugs your family should be taking use drugs. The answer, he said, is a are those supported by your local pharmacy. grassroots approach involving the ro parents, peer counsellors, and the schools, rather than a program imposed from outside the com- munity by the government. Hannele Jantti, coordinator of Communities Against Substance Abuse (C.A.S.A.), said the com- munity can help youths decide against drug and alcohal use by providing them with healthy alter- natives. A program with a preventive focus, C.A.S.A. requires the youths involved to decide what ac- tivities they want so that they have “ownership of the program,"’ Jantti added. The evening ended with three peer counsellors speaking out about their experiences with drugs and alcohol in a North Vancouver high schocl. ‘*People who use drugs are cry- ing out for help,’’ a young woman said, describing the pain she feit \ when she'd watched friends lying . Stanley Drug Products Ltd. a on a curb, “puking from alcohol ‘tin business on the North Shore since 1956 poison.”” “If this keeps up people won't ©} be people anymore, they'll just be - aw objects, controlled by substances. 987-3391 There'll be no future.”’