LAW LETS PARENTS FORCE KIDS INTO DRUG TREATMENT

60 Per Cent Of Teens Treated Under The Law Seek More Help After
Five-Day Confinement Period

CALGARY -- 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 sent nearly 400 children between the ages of 12
and 17 -- including about 60 from the Calgary region -- 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 them 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.

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

Red Deer MLA Mary Anne Jablonski, who tabled the private member's
bill that led to the legislation, said teachers have expressed
interest in applying for confinement orders when parents can't or
won't. This concept is being explored, she added.

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.

While his parents were suspicious -- his grades started tanking, and
he began having violent mood swings -- it wasn't until they installed
spyware on their computer that they learned the extent of his drug involvement.

"This was devastating to us. We just thought everything was going
along perfectly," Anne said.

Eventually, her son was arrested for smoking a joint outside a movie
theatre. Soon after, Anne learned her son was taking ecstasy, and
that his drug use had spread from marijuana to cocaine.

Faced with the choice of living with his problem or kicking him out
of the house, Anne spent countless hours on the phone trying to track
down a program that could help.

But her son refused treatment, and she felt helpless.

At wits' end, his parents turned to the new law, sending their son to
a detoxification facility.

It wasn't easy -- the teenager was furious and refused to talk to his
parents for several days. But at the end of the five-day treatment,
he did something unusual when he returned home, 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, noting her son has
voluntarily agreed to go to counselling.

"This allowed us to keep our child in our home, keep him safe. So
far, it's been a very happy ending for us. . . . We know in our
hearts it was (for) the best."