Dribbling against drugs

August 20th, 2005 by admin

August 19, 2005

Dribbling against drugs

TEAM IZZAT WANTS RESPECT

By Krisendra Bisetty, special to 24 hours.

B.C. youth are getting their first taste of alcohol before hitting puberty and reaching for marijuana and cocaine straight into their teens, according to Vancouver addictions psychiatrist Dr. Shimi Kang.

Richmond RCMP members want to combat that.

“When they decide whether they’re going to smoke marijuana or not, we’re hoping that we’ll swing them over to our side,” said Cpl. Jet Sunner, leader of the detachment’s Team Izzat, a project consisting of 21 RCMP volunteers and one Vancouver police officer. They interact with mostly South Asian youth to steer them away from a life of drugs and violence. Initiatives included a basketball tournament Monday and the first Team Izzat (meaning respect in Punjabi) Youth Leadership Awards Dinner Tuesday night, when 10 Grade 12 students received bursaries of $500 each.

B.C. Attorney General Wally Oppal said that gangsters don’t lead glamorous lives, riding around in Cadillac SUVs, getting involved in drugs and carrying guns.

“Some guys think that’s cool. Well, we all know that a lot of those people are ending up dead in ditches and we want to stop that from happening.”

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