KIDS AND DRUGS

There's an alarming rise in drug-related offences among youth, as
well as mental-health issues and violent crime

In late March, a 15-year-old drug dealer in Chelmsford received a
call on his cellphone.

"You don't know me, but my buddy gave me your number," the mystery
caller asked.

"Could you help me out?"

"Yeah, how much are you looking for?" the drug dealer responded.

"About a quarter," the caller said, referring to a quarter ounce of marijuana.

The two planned to rendezvous at the Tim Hortons in Chelmsford to do the deal.

As the young dealer approached the mystery caller, who unbeknownst to
him was an undercover police officer, a marked cruiser showed up in
the parking lot.

The drug dealer took off and a foot chase ensued.

Officers quickly caught up with the drug dealer. With the
co-operation of his mother, his room was searched. The search turned
up 90 grams of weed, drug paraphernalia and three cell-phones -- an
alarming find in a 15-year-old's room.

Charges were laid and in April this young dealer, who can't be named
under provisions of the Youth Criminal Justice Act, appeared in court.

"At 15, this type of thing is alarming to say the least," federal
drug prosecutor Richard Huneault told the judge.

The amount of drugs could fetch about $900 on the streets, he said.

The dealer's mother is there, and she addressed the judge. It's
obvious she has taken his charges seriously. Her son has, however,
turned his life around since his arrest, she said.

"He's been much more amicable at home. I've been getting phone calls
from school to say he's a different child," she said.

The judge asked the young dealer why he did it.

"The money," he responded nonchalantly.

It's a career he no longer wants, the teen added.

"I want a real career," he said.

The judge proceeded to counsel the boy before handing down a sentence.

The drug world may seem glamourous, the judge said, adding: "In the
end, it turns out to be quite a dead end... What you do in the next
five years sets the path for what follows."

Those who get into drugs get addicted.

"This is like a monkey on their back once they get hooked on it," the
judge said, a metaphor he uses more than once that afternoon.

The dealer is sentenced to 18 months probation. For 12 of those
months, he must follow conditions such as keeping the peace, not
having a cellphone and he must seek counselling as directed by a
probation officer. His curfew is 7 p. m., except as permitted by his
mother in writing.

The teen also gets 30 hours community service, but the judge tells
him if he participates in sports over the summer these hours can be
used towards the probation.

He wishes the 15-year-old luck and sends him on his way.

These are the types of cases one would hear on a Thursday afternoon
in youth court. It's the busiest day of the week, where everyone
makes first appearances and guilty pleas are heard.

It's tough to know if the drug dealer in this case will keep his nose
clean. On the outside, he appears normal. He also seems to have a
supportive mother.

That's something many young lawbreakers lack. It's one reason many
end up in conflict with the law, and why some come back to court several times.

The youths who end up in court come from disadvantaged backgrounds,
as well as from families that appear to have provided love, nurturing
and a good foundation, said assistant Crown attorney Fran Howe.

"I think it's fair to say we see far more youth that come from
disadvantaged, often tragic situations," Howe said. "In the 16-to
17-year-old range we also see a number of youth who are homeless and
who, therefore, have no parental figure or effective guidance and
support in the community."

Sometimes, that's been the youth's choice, other times it's because
there has been a family breakdown. The youth may have also been
involved with the child welfare system and has chosen to remove him
or herself from care at age 16, Howe said. She has also noticed some
other disturbing trends.

"There seems to be a continually increasing involvement of young
people with drugs. That involvement gives rise to a lot of criminal activity.

"There are more teenage girls than say, 20 years ago, that are
involved in crimes of violence and that's a trend that has been
increasing, I would say, for at least the past 10 years," Howe said.

Bettina Kealy, youth mental health court worker with the Canadian
Mental Health Association, has spent two years working with youths in
the court system who have mental health issues.

She said substance abuse is common among the about 200 clients she
has seen. "It's very scary to see how readily available these drugs
are," Kealy said.

They are using a wide-range of drugs, such as marijuana, ecstasy,
Special K, Percocet and Oxycontin.

Ecstasy is a stimulant that can produce feelings of pleasure and
well-being, increased sociability and closeness with others. Among
the side effects are grinding of teeth and jaw pain, sweating,
increased blood pressure and heart rate, anxiety or panic attacks,
blurred vision, nausea, vomiting and convulsions. A growing number of
deaths have been associated with it.

Special K, or ketamine, is a fast-acting anaesthetic and painkiller
used primarily in veterinary surgery. It can produce vivid dreams or
hallucinations, and make the user feel as though the mind is
separated from the body. It may cause vomiting and is dangerous when
mixed with other drugs or alcohol. When taken in higher doses,
ketamine may depress the central nervous system. This can reduce the
level of oxygen that gets to the brain, heart and other muscles, and
may even cause death.

Percocet and Oxycontin are slow-release painkillers. They are
addictive and overdoses can lead to brain damage or death.

"I have even heard stories of pill parties where the kids go and they
have a bowl of different coloured pills," Kealy said. "They just pick
a blue one this time and a pink one next time. It's scary."

Police have found every drug imaginable on young people, said Greater
Sudbury Police Service's Deputy Chief Frank Elsner.

"We've seen all types of different drugs abused by kids," he said.
"We're finding cocaine with younger and younger kids now. As young as
14 and younger."

Melissa Bromley and Samantha McFadden both work at the John Howard
Society co-ordinating diversion programs for young people who commit
minor crimes.

The teens who end up in their office are from all walks of life.

"Whatever you see walking down the street is what we deal with," McFadden said.

"Every kid is different. Sometimes it's just a bad decision. You
know, I wanted that lip gloss," said Bromley.

"They are all good kids, some of them just have bigger challenges than others."

For example, some are dealing with alcohol, drugs and mental health
issues -- among their parents and themselves.

"It's sad sometimes. You look at things that kids have to go through
that they really shouldn't have to," she said. "They are put in
situations way beyond their control and way beyond their maturity and
that's sad."

Some of these young people are dealing with parents with severe
alcoholism, or drug addictions, said John Rimore, John Howard Society
executive director.

"We're talking children that, at a young age, have to fend for
themselves and find their own breakfast, lunch and supper," said Rimore.

The youth justice system is set up in a way to hide the identity of
those who commit crimes. This is aimed at protecting them, but it
also shields the public from learning much about them. We also often
just read about the handful of serious crimes that occur in the
community, such as murders, major assaults or fatal car collisions.

"I think that if people were able to humanize these kids and not look
at the crime, but look at the people they are. That would be a big
change," Bromley said. "People automatically assume they are
delinquents. They are not delinquents. They are kids who are maybe
off the good track. They are maybe not making good decisions, but
they are good kids."

"They all have a story behind them," said McFadden.

Both agree incarceration isn't the answer, especially for minor crimes.

"Would you want your kid in jail for the time that they stole a
chocolate bar from the dollar store," Bromley said. "It doesn't
always make sense.

"People need to realize these kids are going to be the adults in our
world," she said.

"You can chose to incarcerate them and make them angry and not
rehabilitate them, or we can try and rehabilitate them and make them
positive people."

The system does treat these young people differently than adults.
Aside from confidentiality and lesser punishments, many of those who
work with these young people really want them to succeed.

"It's totally different working in the youth system compared to the
adult system," said Kealy, who has worked in both.

"There are a lot of really caring people in (youth) court... I think
we all want to see young people succeed. The more supports we can put
in place for them, the better."

Ann Jones is one example of how getting the right support at the
right time can turn a person around. Her name has been changed to
protect her identity.

The 24-year-old Sudbury resident is a mother of three who plans to
start a four-year social work program at Laurentian University in
September. Her prospects didn't always look so bright.

She grew up in Winnipeg's west end in a broken family living in poverty.

"I was into the gangs. It was a sense of belonging," she said. "I
come from a poor family where we didn't have money for me to go to
Brownies or soccer or swimming. So I had to find other things to
utilize my time and then I got mixed up with the wrong type of people."

She started racking up charges such as robberies, uttering threats,
weapons charges, possession of marijuana and breaches.

"I racked up all these charges and I kept getting released on bail.
Then I ended up getting house arrest," she said. "Then my conditions
changed until the point where they denied my bail and I had to do time."

Jones said she was very angry and out of control. Dealing with the
rules in jail was difficult.

"I didn't like the fact that I couldn't do what I wanted," she said.

She was also surrounded by other girls who were charged with more
serious crimes such as murder and manslaughter.

"I didn't want to be there at all," Jones said.

She decided she might as well take advantage of the programs offered
to her in jail.

"I figured I have to do this, I might as well benefit from it and
allowed myself to be open minded and that brought change," Jones said.

She was released from jail and ended up getting pregnant at age 16.
This helped her stay on the right path.

"I didn't want to jeopardize my child, to continue that cycle of
system, child, poverty, addictions, abuse," she said.

"I saw girls when I was locked up who were in way worse places than
me," she said.

"I had this 'I don't give a f--' attitude, but that was a front for me.

These people lived like that and I didn't want my child to be a
product of that."

The mother of three has recently come to Sudbury, and plans to be a
social worker after graduating from Laurentian.

"I'm able to use my experiences and my past to do something positive
with it," she said. "You know, I had a rough start, but I've managed
to find my way."

The staff at the youth prison in Manitoba were instrumental in
Jones's change in the right direction.

"At that time in my life, it was either you go this way or you go
that way," she said. "I was lucky enough to have people around me
push me in the right direction."

While some kids these days are doing terrible things, it may not be
accurate to say they are any worse than generations before.

"Every generation talks about kids nowadays," said Greater Sudbury
Police Staff Sgt. Rob Thirkill. "My personal opinion is that kids
aren't any worse than when I was a kid. In fact my kids are much
better than I was."