A frank discussion of alcohol and drug addition and recovery took place on June 14 at the Kay Cristo Room in Assiniboia. It鈥檚 a sensitive topic, but for some people, alcohol and drugs can be ruinous.
Sam Cole of Moose Jaw and Cory Delorme of Assiniboia bravely shared their stories of the journey from addiction to recovery. They carried a message of hope that they could help others. Now, having had success in recovery, Delorme feels that he wants to make a difference in people鈥檚 lives through the example of his story. He is currently on a speaking tour of schools in the area. The Assiniboia stop was the first open public discussion, and he has already been to schools in Coronach, Lafleche, Gravelbourg, Hazlet, Rockglen and Glentworth.
The presentation opened with some hard facts about drinking in Saskatchewan. One in three families will be affected by alcoholism or addiction. Saskatchewan has the highest rate of alcoholism and addiction in the country. The province also has the worst record of impaired driving in Canada. Saskatchewan has consistently doubled the national rate of deaths caused by impaired driving and nearly tripled the national rate for reported incidents.
Both Delorme and Cole noted that alcoholism can affect anyone because there is a fine line between having a few drinks for fun and becoming dependent. The whole province became aware of this last summer when the government minister in charge of SGI and liquor and gaming, now ex-deputy premier Don McMorris was arrested and convicted of impaired driving.
Although the presentation did not have time to discuss the multiple factors leading to addictions and alcoholism, it did point out that Saskatchewan鈥檚 alcohol and drug statistics rise during the Craven music festival weekend. The province鈥檚 party culture encourages drinking to excess as a 鈥渘orm鈥�. For some, this can lead them to become easily addicted.
Cole told the story of having an ordinary childhood in Moose Jaw, but as a teenager she started to feel like she didn鈥檛 fit in and was bullied. Alcoholism began for her at age 16 that started with drinking for fun. But this escalated to drinking every weekend, then every day and eventually graduating to drug addiction.聽
