Last week was Addictions Awareness Week in Saskatchewan. The Government of Saskatchewan website states that, “Saskatchewan Addictions Awareness Week offers a chance for communities to play a role in addressing alcohol and drug use, and gambling addiction”.

Like many other designated awareness weeks throughout the year, this one is very important. It addresses issues that people don’t often talk about freely, but that are immense problems in many communities.

In Meadow Lake there were several activities planned for Addictions Awareness Week, although they were mainly planned through local schools.

It is very important for young people to get a sense that addictions can change your life and the lives of the people you love. They need to be aware that just because it is not talked about a lot does not mean it does not happen, and that addictions are very serious in any form.

It is great that the schools and school groups like Students Against Drunk Driving are working hard, especially during this week, to bring awareness to addictions. But what about the community? The Government of Saskatchewan says that this week was an opportunity for communities to play a role in addressing addictions, not just schools. If there were any activities, information sessions or events planned within the community, they were not advertised well.

This is the time of year when MADD begins to hold checkstops to give out red ribbons to raise awareness about drinking and driving. It is about the only thing that does draw attention to problems like that in the community. We have to remember that alcohol is not the only addiction out there though. Awareness should be raised about all types of addictions.

Scott Gallagher, a motivational speaker who has gone through pretty much every addiction you can think of, spoke at Jonas Samson Junior High last Monday. He emphasized the fact that addictions come in many forms. Yes, drugs like marijuana and cocaine are terrible addictions to have, but even smaller addictions to sugar or the Internet can wreak havoc on someone’s life.

People need to be aware that there are people with problems in every community, people dealing with addictions to things that are bad for them and that hurt the people around them. And the community has a responsibility to help those people, not just the ones doing drugs and alcohol.

Addictions Awareness Week has come and gone, and while the students of Meadow Lake know a little more about how addictions can negatively impact your life, but unfortunately the rest of the community will have to wait until next year to find out.