NATIVES IN CRACK CRISIS

Counsellor Calls Hard Drugs Curse Of A Generation

Gas-sniffing and solvent abuse is rampant on some B.C. reserves but
the new drug of choice for native youth is crack cocaine.

"We are seeing a lot more drug addiction to hard drugs like crack
cocaine, cocaine and heroin and we are seeing more and more of that at
younger and younger ages," said Wayne Christian, director of the Round
Lake Treatment Centre in Armstrong, which treats 300 aboriginals a
year.

"With a majority of Canada's aboriginal population under 25, we are
facing a national crisis."

The images of Innu children in Sheshatshiu, Nfld., with plastic bags
of gasoline pressed to their faces, are shocking, said Christian, but
native youth facing other deadly addictions also lack access to
treatment facilities, health care and follow-up.

Christian, 46, said heroin, solvents and cocaine are the curse of this
generation of aboriginal youth, especially because many are already
damaged by Fetal Alcohol Syndrome or the lesser Fetal Alcohol Effects.

"They have very poor impulse control so they're very vulnerable to
addiction," he said. "About 99 per cent of kids repeatedly breaking
the law, due to drug addiction, are FAS/FAE.

"Ironically, the kids have got the message from their parents that
alcohol is bad and almost destroyed our people but they think hard
drugs are OK. They're cheap and real easy to get."

Robina Thomas, a University of Victoria social work professor who is
Coast Salish, says the lack of services for native youth is at crisis
proportions.

"Crack cocaine is readily available on-reserve and more affordable
than staying drunk for four hours, but it's so addictive the kids turn
to crime," she said.

Adella Saul at the Wilp Si'Satxw Healing Centre in Kitwanga, which
treats drug-addicted youth, cites clients such as a 21-year-old "who'd
been sniffing gas for his whole teens" and a 13-year-old using gas,
LSD, marijuana and cocaine.

"We just had one Gitxsan reserve (in northwest B.C.) with a whole
group of kids sniffing solvents or gas but we did stop it with a
workshop for parents about the dangers," she said.

"We need cultural and health programs as well as addiction treatment
where the youth live."

At the Kakawis family treatment centre in Tofino, director Sadie
Greenaway said most native families are treated for multiple alcohol
and drug addictions, including prescription drugs.

One Nuu-chah-nulth alcohol and drug counsellor said he took home a
crack cocaine user in his early teens only to find that "right beside
his crack pipe at home was Mum's crack pipe and Dad's, too. Crack is
smoked openly everywhere now."

John Turvey of the Downtown Eastside Youth Activities Society says its
studies show native crack cocaine addicts "migrate to reserves
frequently and take along crack to use and sell."

Grim Statistics

There are more aboriginal youth in Canada today than ever before.
Almost 40 per cent of Canada's 1.2 million natives are under 14,
compared to 21 per cent of the non-native population, and another 20
per cent of natives are aged 15 to 24.

They face huge social and health issues, including addiction. The only
B.C. study of solvent abuse found 2,000 chronic solvent abusers.
Their average age was 13 and 20 per cent were under 11. The kids sniff
gas, lighter fluid, nail-polish remover and even felt pens.

A Vancouver study of intravenous drug users shows 40 per cent are
aboriginal women and 18 per cent are native men. Health Canada says
HIV among natives rose by 91 per cent last year, 54 per cent of it due
to IV drugs.