TEENS LEARN DRUGS ARE GLOBAL PLAGUE

Drug abuse is an international disease and the societal problems that
influence abuse are usually similar from country to country. No matter the
culture or language, it's often young people who are drug users and abusers.

In April, the United Nations sponsored a conference in Banff to discuss the
international drug problem. More than 150 youth from 24 countries compared
notes on drugs and abuse and worked to write resolutions the UN can
implement around the world.

Three Lord Beaverbrook High School students attended the conference. Here,
they write about their experiences.

I was sitting in the audience of a Banff concert hall with a swarm of
butterflies in my stomach.

Everyone else seemed calm and relaxed watching the talent show, not sharing
the same anxiety that I had for going on stage. The only other person who I
knew was feeling the same as me was Matt, my accompaniment on the guitar,
who had come all the way from New Zealand. He told me he was nervous in an
accent that made the word nervous sound appealing.

Despite all my worries, however, I knew I couldn't miss an opportunity to
share a song that both Matt and I had known before our trip to Banff. The
song was Tomorrow from the Australian band silverchair. He could play the
song on the guitar and I knew all the words.

His friends from New Zealand also shared many similarities with our group
from Calgary. They watched the same movies, dressed like the guys back at
school and played pool better than the three of us Calgarians put together.

During the conference, we all amused ourselves by sharing slang and
different brands of cigarettes. In New Zealand for example, they have three
meanings for the word kiwi. Kiwi can mean a bird, a fruit or a person. As
well, the teens from New Zealand were surprised when they compared our
cigarettes to their longer smokes.

It did, however, take a while to get used to their thick accents. In all
likelihood, they probably had the same hard time trying to understand us.

Of course, talking to someone with an accent was nothing compared to trying
to understand someone who speaks a different language. On the bus to visit
Sulphur Mountain, a smiley boy from Mexico sat in front of Cat and I. We
spent the trip trying to communicate with the boy and found that hand
movements and sound effects are very effective.

I'll never forget the people I met and all the different cultures I was
introduced to during the drug conference.

Everyone accepted one another despite race. We learned that every country
in the world has the same battle against drugs and we all shared the same
determination to improve the drug scene.

As I was on stage singing and watching Matt strum his guitar, I understood
just how much youth from all over the world really have in common.

- -- Holinaty is heading into Grade 12 at Lord Beaverbrook.

It took me five hours to pull a 600-word essay from my overworked brain. I
swore vengeance on whoever came up with that selection process, but my
words were satisfactory. In the end, I was chosen to represent my school's
Futures and FAME programs at the UN youth conference.

The Futures program deals with the prevention of teenage substance abuse.
Youth in the program meet weekly during school hours to discuss their
problems regarding drugs, or family, or school -- anything. The students
fill out tracking sheets and set goals to control their use of drugs and/or
alcohol.

FAME runs on the same idea of peer counselling, but discussions usually
revolve around family or school rather than drugs. The program is something
of a safety net for recovering and recovered youth to resist peer pressure
and stay away from bad influences. My job at the conference was to tell
others about our programs and why they work.

Upon arrival in Banff, I was blown away by how many people from various
cultures were present. I was exposed to many of these different cultures
and I learned about the social, economic and political conditions of their
countries.

I discovered that many of the same problems and factors affecting drug
abuse exist outside Canadian borders. They surpass all cultural and
linguistical barriers.

As well, I learned that programs similar to Futures and FAME run in Russia
and Senegal. It seems that everyone is striving for the same changes in
their home communities.

All 150 delegates at the conference were working to write recommendations
to take the United Nations. We attended, or made, presentations about the
varying programs and the ideas behind them. Then we broke into small
discussion groups to analyze specific topics. This is where the
recommendations begin.

Later, everyone met in a big brown room with elevated benches and a big
projection screen to modify the rough draft recommendations made in the
groups. Translator booths were set up in each corner and non-English
participants donned very technical-looking grey radios.

After four days of this, all of the ideas were gathered up to be revised
and condensed by a youth panel. Their revisions were then presented to us,
yet again, to be modified and discussed.

The top recommendation was that youth agendas should be presented by youth.
We want a chance to have our voices heard.

As well, we felt drug prevention programs should respect culture and
gender. We felt schools should educate students about drugs and that drug
abuse is a health problem and should be treated that way.

I believe that the youth at the conference really came together to make
some big steps at Banff, but many people feared the UN would just brush off
the recommendations. As well, there was a general agreement that more could
have been said. We seemed to be fighting with time in our workshops and
discussion groups.

Our hard work produced many ideas which we can take home to our own
communities. Easily the most important concept discussed was that youth do
have a voice and need to be encouraged to stand up and make a difference.

- -- Cat is heading into Grade 12 at Lord Beaverbrook.

Her last name has been changed to protect her privacy.

Going to Banff and meeting teens from around the world was an experience
I'll never forget.

The first group we met at the conference were Sione, Matt and Bronson from
New Zealand. They gave us necklaces from their homeland and, though we
didn't have much to give them, they were happy with pins.

I spent a lot of time talking to Sione about drug abuse where he comes from
and how my life has been. We talked about the drugs most commonly used in
New Zealand and yes, you guessed it, marijuana is a favorite. It's crazy
how well this drug is known worldwide. The only major difference is that
there they called it deck.

The other group I got to know were Antoine, Slim and Chocolate from New
York City. These people were really interesting. They completely understood
drug issues and felt that our youth seemed to be losing the battle against
drugs.

Antoine, Slim and Chocolate are part of the All Stars Talent Show Network
in New York where youth put on shows displaying their talents and
expressing their views. It provides a safe environment for youth and it
brings up their self-esteem.

In New York, the most common drugs are alcohol and marijuana. Alcohol is a
problem because, like the city itself, the clubs and bars in New York never
sleep.

One of the presentations was put on by youth from London. They told us
about Alcopops -- a drink directed at youth that has five-per-cent alcohol
and no alcoholic taste. It comes in many flavors, including milk, juice and
pop.

We also learned about kaht, an illegal natural amphetamine exported by the
Ethiopian government.

Nonetheless, it was apparent the most commonly abused drugs around the
world are alcohol and marijuana. It may not seem like a big issue in
Calgary, but it is a world-wide problem simply because of the sheer number
of people abusing these substances.

I had a wonderful time at the conference. Youth can talk to youth and that
is something we need to start looking at in order to ensure our future.

- -- Scott is heading into Grade 12 at Lord Beaverbrook.