TOUGHER LAWS NEEDED TO PREVENT CHILDREN FROM LIVING IN DRUG DENS

The year is only a month old and already York Regional Police have
found eight children living in houses where marijuana is being grown.

Last year, 27 children were found in 93 marijuana raids in this
region.

Police say the phenomenon has become "fairly common".

According to the Children's Aid Society, 83 per cent of children taken
into care after being found in a grow house are returned to their
parents or guardians.

Most of the time, people who expose children to life in a drug den
face no additional consequences.

It makes absolutely no sense.

If harmful mould is found growing in a school portable, we rightly
take every action to remove it. The average marijuana growing
operation has 400,000 spores of mould per million, compared to 14,000
for normal air, according to Det. Kory Keeping.

Municipalities across York Region are passing bylaws to protect
children from chemical pesticides on lawns.

Hydroponic marijuana operations use massive amounts of chemical
pesticides in an enclosed space.

Why aren't children legally protected from these hazards, not to
mention fire risks from bypassing hydro meters and the threat of
violence that comes from organized crime?

Research has found children raised around drug production have higher
risk for chronic respiratory problems, neurological damage and cancer.

The legal community says child endangerment from drug cultivation is a
"grey area".

It isn't even on the federal justice department's radar.

But in Alberta, the Drug-Endangered Children Act took effect last
November, making it clear that exposing a child to drug production or
trafficking is abuse.

Arizona, Washington, Louisiana, Georgia and North Dakota have all
passed or are in the process of bringing in legal amendments to
provide specific protection to children who are at risk because of
their parents' involvement with drugs.

Chief Armand La Barge supports similar legislation in
Ontario.

It would add to the sentence of a drug producer who uses the young and
innocent as camouflage for his criminal operations, show society's
revulsion at his actions and might even serve as a deterrent.

More importantly, it would help ensure children are protected.