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(In the past three articles we have been exploring the drug-oriented lifestyle of 'Bob', a recovered addict living in Thunder Bay. Bob has been clean for three years, after 14 years of drug use). Bob has been instrumental in star- ting a Narcotics Anonymous pro- gram in Northern Ontario, which will be the subject of future columns. In today's article, we leave the good times behind and look at Bob's decision to quit drugs and get straight. ARF: When did you decide to try to quit? Bob: Well, I tried to quit a couple of times, like, I noticed quite awhile before I did quit that the partying was pretty much gone from my trips. It was more like I had to use it, that's it. The first time I tried to quit I was straight for about a month and a half and I just couldn't handle it anymore. I got right back into it. A few years later I was straight for _ close to six months and went off the wagon and went right back into it. So the good times in my partying had been out of it for quite awhile before I did quit three years ago. The thing is when you're using dope you want to quit but you don't want to quit. You know that it's not all what it was before and it's not all it's cut out to be, but the thing is it's kind of scary to think of being straight. Especially when you start pretty young. That's pretty much all you'd know- all your life is being stoned and partying. You don't know what the other half is like so it's kind of scary for you. ARF: So when you first decided that you were interested in quitting, you did not automatically say well, okay, that's it, I'm going to quit. It sounds like what you're saying is that you had two things pulling: at you. On the one hand, you wanted to quit and on the other hand, you didn't want to quit. Were you thinking in those days anything like, "I'll quit, I'll get clean- ed up and then I'll start using it again, but this time I'll control it?" Did you ever have thoughts like that? Thousands of kids every year accidentally poisoned at home (NC) -- Is your home poison- -proof and safe for your~child, or is the cupboard under your kitchen sink full of cleaning fluids and chem- icals? Every year, many Canadian children are accidentally poisoned in the home. Poison Control Centres. across Canada reported over 9,000 contacts or ingestions from household products in 1983, over 6,000 of which involved chil- dren ranging in age from a few months to four years. Most could be prevented. Measures are in place to help pro- tect your child, under the regu- lations of the Hazardous Products Act administered by Consumer and Corporate Affairs Canada. To help reduce such poisonings, the Act spe- cifies that certain potentially dan- gerous household products, such as those containing toxic amounts of petroleum distillates, turpentine, methyl alcohol and pine oils, be packaged in child-resistant con- tainers in addition to bearing warn- ing labels. - Warning labels But these measures alone are not enough: parents and _ guardians must take care that their children do not have access to any such prod- NC 214-11 Consumer Affairs ucts, including those in child-resis- tant containers. Given sufficient time, an active and inquisitive child may well solve the mystery and dis- cover how to open the safety clos- ures. Certain hazardous products have warning labels that parents should heed. In tests, the design of the child-re- sistant containers must be suffi- ciently intricate that 80 per cent of children under five cannot open them. At the same time, 90 per cent of adults should find them easy to open. The container design should strike a compromise between easy and difficult access. Here are important precautions you should take in handling poten- tially hazardous products: ¢ Return cleaning or other chemical products to a high, safe place im- mediately after use. If you are inter- rupted while using a product, or if the telephone rings, either take the container with you or put it away. How long does it take a child to swallow a poisonous compound? A second? e Never transfer cleaning products or chemicals from their original containers to ordinary beverage or food containers -- or any other un- labelled container. ¢ Lock up all hazardous products when not using them. If this is not possible, place them very high, out of sight and out of reach. Children cannot be poisoned by something they cannot see or reach. offers ¢ Comprehensive Dental Plan ¢ Comprehensive Drug Plan ¢ Major Medical Benefits e Vision Plan Direct claims payment e Easy administration with = one monthly billing. ( For groups of 6 or more bs BLUE CHIP PLUS Preferred Hospital Accommodation Write for a brochure or call direct Bob Lenardon 34 Cumberland Street North Suite 707 Thunder Bay, Ontario P7A 4L3 'D> (807) 345-5451 = '- eel eee S ae Bob: Yeah, you're always wishing that you could keep doing it but have control of it. Like me, it was a good eight years before I did quit it completely. _ I kept telling myself, "Okay, I'll just slack off, take it easy, I'll just smoke." So you just smoke and you don't do any chemicals for six months, whatever, and then when smoking isn't enough for you anymore, you get right back into the chemicals. For myself, I can't just do it and control. Some people are able to. They smoke maybe once a year or something. I can't do that. If I smoke a joint, I need a gram or if I smoke a gram, I need an ouncer- there's no limit to it. I tried it that way, like I said, for years, you know. I'd slack off, start over, slack off, but finally I realized that either I had to quit or I don't know what would have happened. ARF: So you spent eight years try- ing to control your drug use after the six years of good times were over. Bob: 1 was just joking, kidding myself that I was still having a good time, but really I knew that it wasn't all that good of a time. Keep Canada Beautiful x RAK AK RK KKK KK WOOD THINGS -Rocking Horses -Children's Rocking Chair: -Wooden Toys -Your name in wood CALL 825-3677 29 PINE CRES. CIR RRR KR RK hg ie i aay ao BOOS IR IORI PIANO WORKS PAUL ROM from PIANO WORKS will be IN: TERRACE BAY & SCHREIBER NOV. 29 to DEC. 1 To TUNE & REPAIR PIANOS CALL: MRS. BORRIE 825-9173 Terrace Bay-Schreiber News, Wednesday, November 26, 1986, page 9 _A Northern Ontario drug addict' s true story. I was stuck, you know. When you're dealing dope and you're into dope, you owe money, people owe you money. You need the dope first of all, you wake up in the morning and you're down, so you need it to get you going. So it wasn't a good time really. You get so stoned and wired out that you think you're having a good time. You put people on, you hide your feelings, you hide what you're think- ing, and everybody else around you does the same. So everybody's lying to each other, you're putting a con on each other. ARF: It sounds like you're saying that people in that situation. were showing each other masks of cool in- dividuals who have everything under control, but behind your mask, the control over drugs had left you. Bob: That's it. You're kind of afraid to come out and talk to a bud- dy. You're still on acid or something and you feel like telling him you'd like to quit, but you're afraid that he might say, "What the. hell are you talking about?". You're afraid he might put you down or give you a hard time so you just push it to the back of your mind. You keep putting it off all the time. ° We'll continue our look at Bob's emergence from drug dependency next week. Meanwhile, if you'd like to learn more about Narcotics Anonymous, phone 'Bob' at 344-4357. -also waxing streaks oe Janice or PERM SPECIALSS5. off -colours SENIOR RATES AVAILABLE HAIR PRODUCTS MAKE: git certificate EASY GIFTING MON., TUES., & SAT. - 9:00 a.m. - WED., THURS., & FRI. - 9:00 a.m. - 9:00 p.m. CALL NOW FOR APPOINTME with Christiane DEC. 1-24 5:30 -- age = Perthis | DRYCLEANING SERVICES PLAIN DRESSES SLEEPING BAGS 7 Simcoe Plaza Terrace Bay 825-3776 MENS & LADIES 2 PIECE SUITS PARKAS & HEAVY WINTER COATS oo FALL SALE NOV. 24 to DEC. 26 5.25 5.25 6.25 TRAILER PARK Schreiber : 824-2617 825-9379 or 9395 SIMCOE PLAZA (Mon. - Fri. 10:00 a.m. - TERRACE BAY, ONTARIO or 'THE LAW OFFICE OF EDWIN W. (TED) PAGET. can now accommodate clients in Schreiber & Terrace Bay For appointment, call: 824-3122 302 SCOTIA, 2nd FI. 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