FAMILIES LOOKING FOR HELP

Saskatchewan Party MLA June Draude introduced a private member's bill in
the legislature Wednesday that could give families the power to put
drug-addicted children into mandatory rehabilitation.

The Protection and Assessment of Children who are Abusing Drugs Act is
based on a bill recently passed in Alberta.

"A child that's on drugs right now can't really make up their mind and
doesn't really have control over all their faculties and we just believe it
gives them a chance to make some changes in their life," said Draude.

Under the act, legal guardians would make an application to a court to have
the child -- in this case defined as under the age of 18 -- apprehended and
confined to a safe house for no more than 30 days. If the court grants the
application and the child is admitted to the safe house, he/she would
undergo an assessment by the director of the facility and then begin
detoxification and treatment.

While the act was spurred on by the high-profile use of crystal meth in the
last year, it entails users of all drugs and alcohol.

Community Resources and Employment Minister Joanne Crofford said there are
still several factors that need to be considered before enacting
legislation including civil liberties issues as well as whether or not the
same result could be achieved through changes to current legislation.

The Child and Family Services Act currently allows for children under the
age of 16 to be apprehended and returned to their family's care.

"There certainly are people looking at both the amended Alberta bill . and
as well looking at what the best practices are that are considered by
people who work in the field. And also doing a bit of a balancing act with
looking at how the rights of the young person are protected as well," she
said. "I think what we have to determine here is whether there are
circumstances in which a person should be judged to be not competent to
make their own decisions."

A spokesperson from the Children's Advocate Office said any strategy must
include the recommendations of young people and must balance a child's
right to protection from harm with a child's right to fair treatment as
well as asserting a child's right to physical and personal integrity.

Rod Rossmo, a registered psychologist and professor of health education at
the University of Regina said the effectiveness of treatment under duress
is debatable but can lead some addicts down the road to recovery.

But even though mandatory treatment won't work for everyone, he said the
government still needs to put some sort of law in place.

"There's an urgency to do something," he said. "I think that suffering
families need the support of the government and the ear of the government
to allow them to have some modality that will ease the burden of addiction
and the consequences to the family functioning."

The bill could be debated further today after Legislative Secretary on
Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment Graham Addley reveals his findings
and recommendations on the province's addictions policies and programs.