By Stephanie Froese

Northern communities ramp up drug prevention

Nov 23, 2010 | 5:28 AM

Two days of discussion, information and workshops on drug prevention are going on in La Ronge.

The La Ronge and Area Illicit Drug Prevention Strategy committee is developing an inter-generational action plan to prevent the use of illicit drugs in the community. One aspect of that strategy is teaching people about what the committee calls 40 developmental assets.

“It’s a developmental theory. It has both external and internal assets, so you’d have assets like support from parents … being able to have fun outside of school, reading for pleasure, self-esteem, boundaries and expectations,” Laura Kuley said, manager of special health projects with the La Ronge Health Region and on the Drug Prevention Strategy Committee.

The committee hosting the event includes members from community schools, the Churchill River Health Region and the RCMP.

There is a direct correlation between the number of assets a child has and their risk taking behavior, Kuley said. In theory, the more assets the less likely they will be to fall into drug problems.

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Within the summit a completely student-designed action plan is also being developed that will work with groups from multiple generations.

Kuley said about 50 people started off the sessions on Sunday morning but she expects numbers to grow to about 80 participants. Most of the attendants are students and Kuley said it’s made the summit a fun and positive environment. She also hopes this summit will spur discussion to continue on.

Members of the public were also invited to attend the Drug Prevention Summit.

“We’re really hoping that the planning will continue forward and that we would have some type of a committee put together to continue discussions. We do have some funding through Health Canada as well, to continue on any projects that would come out of that,” Kuley said.

Problems with youth involvement with drugs have been a constant issue in northern communities as well as drug related issues like youth suicide and youth crime, she said.

The Illicit Drug Prevention Strategy Committee has been gathering public input and will be looking for future public contribution to develop action plans.

sfroese@panow.com