MP backs anti-drug organization

BY RAFFY BOUDJIKANIAN

raffy.boudjikanian@transcontinental.ca

Pierrefonds-Dollard MP Bernard Patry added his name to a banner declaring he promised to live a life without drugs, a symbolic gesture aimed to help non-profit organization Narconon Trois-Rivières preach prevention to grade school students across Quebec.

"I remember seeing a patient years ago," recalled Patry, a former physician, "who came to me with a black eye. I asked him what had happened, and he said his 15-year old son had hit him."

Like other experiences dealing with patients whose lives had been affected by drugs, this one marked him too. The Liberal MP's first instinct back then was to give his patient some contact information for a detox centre, and nowadays he still thinks the work of places like Narconon is important.

"To me, having Bernard Patry sign our banner is important, because people like our MPs are popular among children. It sends a positive message to them," said Carole Arvisais, community relations director with the organization.

Other colourful signatures that adorn the large white banner include Senator Jean Lapointe and TVA channel personality Pierre Bruno.

"(Drug addiction) starts at the fourth grade these days," Arvisais said. Even she was surprised when one school contacted the organization to ask them to speak to nine and 10 year-olds, she added.

"Part of the reason why it starts so early now is because of how much this is visible in our media, such as television and the Internet," Patry said.

Narconon Trois-Rivières is the only Quebec branch of a global network. According to Arvisais, the detox centre treats those who are above 18 years of age. Over the course of a program that lasts around five months, addicts are encouraged to go "cold turkey" and replace their drug intake with lots of vitamins and proteins. They eventually begin to undergo three- to four-hour sauna sessions to sweat out all their toxins.

For more information on Narconon Trois-Rivières, call 819-376-8181.