Presenters and members of the Weyburn Council on Alcohol and Drug Abuse (WECADA) expressed disbelief over a new program being promoted in addictions services called Harm Reduction, and vowed to fight it to the highest level.

The work to combat this policy and the problems of alcohol and drug addiction were discussed at WECADA's annual meeting on Wednesday evening at the Elks Hall, leading up to Drug Awareness Week running from Nov. 14 to 20.

To mark Drug Awareness Week, WECADA is hosting a guest speaker, Bernie L., who is talking to students today, Nov. 17, at the Comp and the two junior high schools.

Another speaker, Val Anderson of PRIDE Regina, will give a talk to parents on Wednesday evening at the Comp Cafetorium about the state of drug use in the province today, starting at 7 p.m.

At the annual meeting, presentations were given by addictions counsellor Garry Tedford, including information about the Harm Reduction program; Weyburn police Chief Bill Millar, who told members about the new DARE program going into city schools; problem gambling counsellor Dave Morgan, who spoke on the pervasiveness of gambling facilities in the province and its impact, Social Services director Vic Wiebe, who explained the activities of the Child Action Committee in Weyburn; and Irene Connaughty, who is the Driving With Impairment (DWI) co-ordinator for the southeast area.

Harm Reduction is defined as a policy or program dedicated to reducing the harmful or adverse effects of alcohol and drug abuse, "without requiring a reduction in consumption or abstinence from substance use," explained Tedford, who added, "It's beyond me."

Letters have been written from the addictions services staff in Weyburn, and most of the program co-ordinators in southern Saskatchewan are addressing it, said Tedford, who indicated he would stake his job on his stand against this policy.

"This job is not that important to me; if this is what we're mandated to do, then they'll be looking for a new counsellor like that," he said, snapping his fingers. "To me, it just isn't a policy that's going to work. The people who introduced this had the best intentions, but if this came down when I was still drinking, that would've been all I wanted to hear."

WECADA chairman Ross Fenwick added that he is a member of a provincial board of addictions services, and some of the members of this board were going to take this information to cabinet to have the policy quashed if possible.

"The thing that concerns me is some of the people who are promoting this should damn well know better," said Dave Morgan prior to making his presentation, adding if he had heard this when he was recovering from alcoholism, he would probably be dead today.

Meanwhile, Tedford said there is a shortage of addictions counsellors in Weyburn right now, with one vacancy in the department currently and a second vacancy coming up shortly.

"A lot of things I'd like to introduce has been put on hold," he said.

Morgan works with Canadian Mental Health in providing programs for problem gambling, an addiction which has grown exponentially since the introduction of 3,600 VLTs around the province along with five stand-alone full-scale casinos.

"We're concerned about anybody who gambles, but we're especially concerned about young people, seniors, and people with mental health problems. One of the problems is it's so pervasive. It's real difficult to imagine somebody trying to kick this problem on their own," said Morgan.

Chief Millar gave details about the Drug Abuse Resistance Education program, in which two city police officers recently graduated in order to provide the program to the city's grades 5 and 6 students.

Constables Caroline Chartrand and Kelly Newman were the first municipal police officers to take this training in Saskatchewan, and they graduated on Nov. 5 at the RCMP training academy in Regina. Chief Millar said they now have to raise funds to buy the books that go with the program, and will try and get it into the schools as soon as possible.

In a study of Grade 11 students, it was found those who had taken DARE training in school were less likely to experiment with drugs than those who had not taken the training, said Chief Millar.

"It's a very comprehensive life skills program. We hope to do all the schools as time permits," said the chief, adding the course has 17 formal lessons which will be instructed by the officers.

The Child Action Committee was explained by Vic Wiebe as an umbrella organization which seeks to co-ordinate all the efforts of agencies, groups and organizations which have programs for children and families.

One program they're working on is to provide respite care for families with difficult children, such as children with behavioural problems or those with physical or mental handicaps, said Wiebe, while others include marriage enrichment programs and addressing the problems of transportation for poorer families who need to get out to Souris Valley where the Family Place and the Community Health Services facility are located.

"The focus is on prevention. I think a lot of credit is due to Chief Millar and to (former education director) Ed Kolybaba on getting the police into the school system," said Wiebe, adding there is also a new program this year for developing social skills for at-risk children, put on with the co-operation of the South Central Health District and the school boards. A small nutrition program has also been developed through this committee.

An overview of the DWI program was given by Irene Connaughty, who explained sessions are tentatively scheduled for once a month for those convicted of impaired driving offences in court. The program began in Weyburn in 1975, with 212 programs hosted here since that time, said Connaughty. Each session lasts 16 hours, and each participant has to attend all 16 hours in order to get credit towards reducing their driving prohibition suspension time given by SGI.

The program is self-funded, as it's paid for by the participants, and the two instructors are members of WECADA.