NORTH VANCOUVER has a teenage drug abuse problem, Burnett's daughter Carrie tor drug and the community should take steps to prevent it from becoming widespread, according abuse to U.S. drug counsellor and author Bob Mechan. Meehan gave a talk on Building a Local Drug Program to a group of S0 residents ata public forum Sunday. Mechan, who wrote Bevond the Yellow Brick Road: Our Children and Drugs, said a local drug prevention program is needed im- mediately in North Vancouver. “From everything Uve heard it’s areal big problem here. It's becoming more the norm than the abnorm for teenagers to get high,’ he said, “That's really scary. But if we AUTHOR BOB Mech By KIM PEMBERTON News Reporter can learn from the United States and do something quickly we can be more effective here.’ Meehan, 43, was a drug addict from ave 12 to 27. In 1971 in Houston, Texas he founded the Landmark Palmer Drug) Abuse Program, which to date has helped 20,000 drug addicts and expanded to five other states. He successfully treated Carol NEWS photo Stuart Davis coholic, has helped 20,000 others overcome their addiction, including Carol Burnett's daughter Carrie. Meehan, author of Beyond the Yellow Brick Road: Our Children and Drugs, spoke (o a group of North Shore residents last week on the importance of beginning a drug preventative program in North Vancouver. abuse, when she was 78, Carne Burnett, now 20, is a star on the television show Fume and lectures on drug abuse. “She's: doing wonderfully now...very sober. he said. Meehan said his program for teenage drug abusers is similar to the prograni offered by Alcoholics Anonymous, and offers teenagers a f2-step approach to overcoming their dependency. “They're the Cheech and Chong generation, who get high because they want to be hip, slick and coal, We need a group of neat peaple “who can say, ‘You can hang around us und have fun, but without the drugs.’ “Ets almost like a club. You need a person to be in charge who knows teenagers. The name of the game is attractiveness in being straight.” Meehan outlined the 12-steps he uses to help drug addicts overcome their addiction, He said the first step is for the addict to admit he has a problem, and the second step is associating with ‘‘winners in order to grow.” He said the third and fourth steps are finding a ‘‘loving, forgiv- ing higher power.’’ who could provide orderly direction. “It’s trying to grow spiritually, however you choose to do it,’’ he explained. Steps five to nine involve the addict seeking help, doing an in- ventory of everyone he’s hurt and making amends, said Mechan. The 11th step is a maintenance step, he said, where the addict does a daily inventory listing what he did wrong and right that day. The final step is trying to help others with problems they may be having. Meehan is writing a second book, this time on the subject of relationships, from his home in San Diego. He was invited to speak in North Vancouver by a group of concern- ed parents, 3 - Sunday, Novemher 16, 1986 - North Shore News NEWS photo Mike Wakelleld rill of a lifetime A LADDER struck lifts one of West Vancouver's firefighters to the eighth floor of Sunnyside Manor dur- ing a mock fire evacuation Wednesday. The exercise was meant to teach eiderly West Vancouver residents how to save themselves from a burning building, but 19 of the 60 residents refused to cooperate. Still, officials from the department described the drill as a sucess. POPULAR N. VANCOUVER MAYOR iS BACK FOR HER THIRD TERM THE DISTRICT of North Vancouver will remain Marilyn Baker country for the next two years. By TIMOTHY RENSHAW News Reporter Considering that it wiil be the district mayor’s third consecutive term and second by acclamation, the general district populace ap- pears to be cither extremely docile about local politics or extremely satisfied with Baker. The mayor prefers the latter. “} believe [ am seen to be doing a good job,"’ Baker said in a recent interview. ‘And I believe people see me as being fair and that 1 do my homework. And the cor- respondence } get does not indicate that people don’t care.” Married with three children, Baker, who said she will soon be celebrating the fourth anniversary of her 39th birthday, plunged into municipal polities in 1973, when she made an unsuccessful run for district alderman, The manager of a local travel agency at the lime, Baker became interested in local politics after working with community groups in establishing the Maplewood child care facility and in fighting for responsible development of the Maplewood mudflats in the late "70s. She won a seat on council in 1975 and has, she said, “topped the polls ever since." {In 1979, Baker temporarily retired from politics and the predictability of a nine-to-five ex- istence when she and her family travelled to England, bought a 33-foot sailboat and spent 1% years exploring the Mediterranean Sea and the canals of Europe. After being re-elected as an alderman upon her return in 1981, Baker can for district mayor in 1982 when Don Bell retired. She was elected with 8,000 votes. Her nearest challenger had 1,500, The key to Baker’s popularity then and now appears to reside as much in her energetic personality as her forthright approach to pro- blems facing the district. She exudes self-assurance in her goals for the municipality and points proudly to improvements in the district during her mayoral tenure. . As a mayor, Baker is rarely unavailable for grand openings, unveilings and the myriad of rib- bon cuttings that constitute the life of any community. “Sure, it’s part of the job. A community is made up of residents and organizations and their activi- ties. It's important that we recognize their efforts.” As to what has been ac- complished during her mayoral tenure, Baker points to the June 12 opening of the district garbage bal- ing station as a major part of the district's long-term planning of North Shore garbage disposal. District traffic flow, she said, has been improved by such things as the Seymour Parkway bridge, which opened June 19, 1984, Uppermost in both things ac- complished and things that remain to be accomplished for Baker as district mayor is the safe transport of hazardous goods through the North Shore and the district. A July 11 B.C. Court of Appeal ruling upheld the district's position against expansion of dangerous goods production on municipal land and ruled thal companies producing liquid chlorine, ex- plosives and radioactive material will not be allowed to relocate in the district. Baker said she is also working closely with the shippers and receivers of dangerous goods to establish a long-term plan for safer transportation of all hazardous goods through the district and the North Shore. Elsewhere, Baker said the district has organized a coordi- nated emergency plan with the North Shore’s two other municipalities, has established a parks and recreation master plan and has finalized a fair and balanced municipal tax rate, According to 1986 statistics, North Vancouver District property taxes are $6.28 per every $1,000 of assessed value compared with $6.58 for North Vancouver City and $6.69 for West Vancouver, While Baker would not say how Jong she plans fo continue her mayoral career, there remains, she said, a list of Baker priorities for the district. She wants to see an overall economic strategy developed for all three North Shore municipalities. Baker also wants to see a low level road link built to help alleviate the problems of east-west transportation on the North Shore. The amalgamation of North Vancouver District. and North Vancouver City, she said, “would benefit everybody involved.” She also wants to see the North Shore realize its full potential as a tourist destination. DISTRICT OF North Vancouver Mayor Marilyn Baker. Backyard burning, currently banned in the district, is one of the major controversies dogging Baker. But she said complaints come from one per cent of the popula- tion “and I think our air quality is something we take pride in.” She added that rather than sim- ply return to backyard burning, other solutions must de found. Baker said she will end her ca- reer as mayor when she no longer feels she has something to con- tribute. “It's possible to get too comfy. | think you start to repeat yourself. And J think there comes a time when you should make way for new ideas and new blood.”