April 13, 2010

Former Undercover Police Officer Addresses Teen Drug Abuse

KELOWNA, BC: On April 15, families in the Central Okanagan are invited to hear the insights of former undercover drug operator Robb McGirr.  In his 28 years as a police officer, McGirr spent much of his career investigating illegal drug use in the Lower Mainland and Victoria.  He saw firsthand the dynamics of drug use and addiction.  As a qualified BC Supreme Court expert on teen drug trends and trafficking, he provided his opinion in more than 300 criminal and civil cases.  He received the BC Lieutenant Governor’s meritorious service award for his role in creating a community response strategy to cope with teen drug use.

On Thursday, April 15, McGirr will speak to students in Grades 10 and 11 at Kelowna Secondary School and in the evening will offer a free, public presentation from 7:00 to 8:30 p.m. in the KSS gymnasium.  The evening presentation would be especially helpful for parents of teenagers.

Scott Parker, Vice-Principal at KSS, coordinated the visit from McGirr.  All five secondary schools in the District contributed to the cost of the visit considering it valuable for students. 

“We have seen a significant upward trend in drug suspensions and drug-related activity in secondary schools this year and wanted to support the parent community in helping us address this problem,” says Parker.

Interestingly, teen drug use changes in the spring.  “Typically spring is a time in secondary schools when drug use increases and we thought that it would be timely to bring him up to speak to our parent communities…. Robb sees early identification and prevention programs as key to attacking substance abuse.  We agree and feel that the first step for us was to increase our community's knowledge base and to invite parents into our schools—as partners—to help us tackle this problem.”

Having had the opportunity to hear one of McGirr’s presentations at a school in Coquitlam, Parker was very impressed by his experience, knowledge and candid, "straight shooting" style. 

McGirr's presentation will cover the current teen ‘drugs of choice’ (i.e., what they are, how they are used and what to do).  He will explain the escalating levels of use from simple curiosity to addiction as well as tools for education and prevention.  The former undercover officer will also provide parents, teachers and counsellors with basic skills in recognizing the dynamics of “first use” and other high-risk scenarios.

Approved by the Superintendent and Scott Parker on April 13, 2010

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For comments, please contact:

Scott Parker, Vice-Principal, Kelowna Secondary School, (250) 762-2805

Hugh Gloster, Superintendent of Schools, School Board Office, (250) 860-8888

For background information, please contact Lisa Harrison lharriso@sd23.bc.ca or 470-3284.