A dramatic spread of photos depicting a heroin addict’s recovery process stood behind five experts on substance abuse and health policy. The panelists were discussing addiction, drinking, and how to reach students March 12 at the Carleton University Art Gallery (CUAG).
On campuses in Ottawa, the biggest problem substances are alcohol and marijuana, and they are often connected to mental health problems like stress or depression, according to the panel.
According to the 2004 Canadian Campus Survey by the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, 77.1 per cent of students reported alcohol use in the past month, while 32.1 per cent reported using cannabis in the past year. Coming in at a low third was 8.7 per cent of students who had used other illicit drugs (excluding cannabis) in the past year.
The panel discussion entitled “Youth + Substance Use/Abuse in Ottawa” revolved around how to educate students on risk reduction. According to Jesse Auguste, the only undergraduate on the panel, scare tactics are not effective.
“Students are coming out from high school where drugs are perceived as bad. Then one day, one of your friends ends up smoking and nothing bad ever ends up happening. They didn’t end up becoming a crack addict. So in that sense, high school doesn’t become credible anymore,” he said.
While statistics like alcohol’s impact on brain development are still fact based, they don’t resonate with students, according to panelist and Carleton neuroscience professor Kim Hellemans.
Even so, substance abuse has more immediate consequences, including fights, increased sexual assault, noise disturbances, passing out, and drunk driving.
“Students are drinking to the point that they think they are having fun, but in the morning they are saying ‘I completely regret this.’ So at counselling, it’s not that we want everyone to stop drinking, but we want to reduce the negative things associated with drinking,” Auguste said.
Students sometimes use excessive drinking and smoking to deal with problems like anxiety, depression, and stress, but in the long term, they can also exacerbate problems, according to panelist and public health nurse Terry-Lynne Marko.
“To break that cycle, the number one intervention is to talk to someone about it. You don’t need to be in crisis to go seek help,” she said.
“Many students don’t even know that we have a counselling office, or that we have counselling services,” said Auguste, who explained that students identified as high risk are referred to actual addiction services, while counselling services are used for low or intermediate risk students.
“If it’s intermediate— for example someone has a problem use of marijuana— then we can set up some counseling sessions and we can get them to either stop their usage or lower their usage to a point where they can still function in school,” he said.
“I know personally in the last three years I’ve been here, I’ve seen higher prevalence of drug use,” said Kayleigh Fisher, a third-year sociology and women’s studies double major.
The thirty or so attendees came from around the Ottawa community and included a member of Mothers Against Drunk Driving, frontline addiction workers, and Carleton students.
