DETOX PROGRAM OFFERS HOPE, SAY PARENTS

Nearly 400 Get Drug Treatment

Finding drug paraphernalia in her son's room, installing spyware on
the family computer to root out dealer contacts, watching her
16-year-old turn into a total stranger -- it was the piling up of
events that led to rock bottom for a Calgary mom.

"He wasn't our son anymore; he was somebody we didn't even
recognize," said Anne, whose last name has been withheld to protect
her son's identity.

"We were absolutely desperate. Our son was spiralling downhill." That
desperation led her to take advantage of a new Alberta law and send
her drug-addicted child to a detoxification facility for five days.

Since it came into effect on July 1, 2006, the Protection of Children
Abusing Drugs Act has seen nearly 400 children between the ages of 12
and 17 -- including about 60 from the Calgary region -- go into drug treatment.

Only Alberta and Saskatchewan have legislation allowing parents to
seek court-ordered confinement.

While the legislation has met with criticism, advocates contend the
program is a success: nearly 60 per cent of the children forced into
the facilities stay on for voluntary help.

"The numbers themselves are surprising," said Silvia Vajushi, the
Alberta Alcohol and Drug Abuse Commission's executive director of
youth services. "There were certainly more referrals than we
expected." When they arrive, most of the children are overwhelmed,
afraid and angry with their parents.

The goal of the program, which cost $13.9 million in its first year,
is to get the children to see they have a problem.

The legislation is also making parents aware that they shouldn't wait
too long to intervene when they notice their children are becoming
addicted to drugs.

The program, however, has had its share of problems.

More than 80 children have been through the program more than once.
Some have returned as many as four times.

Sometimes, the children sleep for three straight days after they
arrive, so counsellors have only two days to work with them.

Some 112 children have appealed their court orders; judges overturned 58 cases.

Anne's son is doing better now.

When he started attending a new high school in Grade 10, he hooked up
with the wrong crowd, his mother said.

Eventually, her son was arrested for smoking a joint outside a movie
theatre. He was also using ecstasy and cocaine.

At wit's end, his parents turned to the new law, sending their son to
a detoxification facility last month.

At the end of the five-day treatment, he did something unusual , Anne said.

He approached his mother, gave her a hug and kiss, and thanked her.

"I've seen a real difference in him," said Anne.