SEQUIM – One of the most dangerous things parents can do if their children are abusing drugs, Linda Silvas believes, is stay in denial.
To tackle that problem, Silvas, a Sequim author and artist, will be one of three experts speaking this Saturday at the Center of Infinite Reflections, the learning center at 144 Tripp Road southwest of Sequim.
Silvas, along with center founder Susan Davis and Port Angeles Drug Task Force member Mike Grall, will present a two-hour workshop on how to spot the signs of substance abuse.
“There are so many families out there dealing with [alcohol and other drug abuse],” Davis said, “and so many grandparents raising their grandchildren,” because of a parent’s struggle with addiction.
Admission to the class, which will run from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m., is a donation, Silvas added.
“We want to bring some awareness,” she said, by helping people recognize not only telltale behaviors, but also slang terms that are part of illegal-drug culture and the household substances that can be abused.
Those include over-the-counter and prescription drugs, of course, and aerosol sprays, nail polish remover and other products, Silvas said.
Silvas is the author of Mama Bear Baby Bear: A Native American Lore, a family-oriented fable about drug addiction’s effects on youngsters, set in a region much like the Olympic Peninsula.
Davis is an expert in another area of drug culture: she developed and taught “Meth Madness,” a three-hour course for real estate professionals on how to identify a house that’s being used as a methamphetamine laboratory and how to recognize meth paraphernalia strewn in a nearby field or forest — something that is all too common in rural America.
After the workshop, Silvas will offer signed copies of Mama Bear Baby Bear, now in its third printing. For information about the book, see www.MamaBearBabyBear.com.
The workshop, one of the diverse slate offered at the Center of Infinite Reflections, also will cover local resources where families can find help, Davis added.
People interested in learning more details about Saturday’s class are encouraged to phone Silvas at 360-683-0992.
To find out about other classes – from yoga to journal writing and beyond — offered at the Center of Infinite Reflections, phone Davis at 360-460-7941.
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Sequim-Dungeness Valley Reporter Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-681-2391 or at diane.urbani@peninsula dailynews.com.