TEEN-ADDICTS BILL WORTH CLOSE LOOK

Red Deer MLA Mary Anne Jablonski can't forget a teenager she met last fall.
An honours high school student, she had a life full of promise until she
experimented with crystal meth, a highly addictive street drug.

The teenager appeared last fall at a government forum to ask for help for
others caught like herself in the trap of addiction.

"I asked her why she tried it in the first place and she said: 'I tried it
the first time because I didn't know (the consequences),' " recalled Jablonski.

It's that kind of tragedy that prompted Jablonski to come up with her
interesting and provocative private member's initiative. Bill 202, to be
introduced in the legislature this spring, would give parents the right to
go to court and ask the judge to order treatment for their child if drug
addiction is established.

Yes, there are serious legal questions with a proposal to force minors into
treatment. Generally, the courts are reluctant to erode an individual's
autonomy, even that of a teenager, as it is the basis of our democratic rights.

It's true judges routinely order convicted criminals (adults and young
offenders) to take counselling as part of their sentencing -- alcohol
counselling for a repeat drunk driver or anger management for a violent
teenager.

But in the case of teens with a drug addiction, no crime has been
committed. So what right does the judge have to intervene in their lives
and order treatment? Teenagers are deemed to be autonomous in the medical
sphere, competent to decide their own treatment for disease or getting
birth control pills. When they commit a crime, they are held responsible,
not their parents.

But Jablonski argues with some merit that there are reasonable limits on
that autonomy if the children are harming themselves. Consider also that
crystal meth interferes with mental abilities and causes confusion,
paranoia, depression, violent outbursts and aggressive behaviour. Can a
teenager in those circumstances be competent to make a sound decision about
their options?

Applying for a court order would be a last resort, says Jablonski.
Initially, parents would ask their child to agree to an assessment by the
Alberta Alcohol and Drug Abuse Commission. If the teenager refused, the
parents could go to court and ask a judge to order an assessment and then
treatment.

By requiring a judicial review, Jablonski hopes to avoid a challenge under
the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which upholds a person's right to be
free from arbitrary detention.

Also, Jablonski points out that under the Child Welfare Act, children can
be put in a secure facility if they are a danger to themselves.

Experience with Alberta's child prostitution law -- which allows a judge to
order a teenage prostitute into a safe house -- suggests it may be possible
to overcome the legal hurdles for teenage drug addicts under defined
circumstances and for a limited time.

The question then becomes whether court-ordered counselling would be
effective. The first impulse is to doubt that a young person forced into
treatment will really engage in the counselling.

But it's not that simple, cautions Marilyn Mitchell, AADAC's youth services
manager. Many adults and youth come into AADAC treatment programs because
they are ordered by court or by a workplace or school or parents, not
because they volunteer. The challenge is to work with them to see the
benefit of treatment, she says.

"How do we protect individual rights and people's need to learn how to
overcome addiction," said Mitchell.

AADAC has no specific detoxification centres or residential treatment
facility for teenagers at this time, though Health Minister Iris Evans
recently talked of setting up four such facilities.

Jablonski's bill should prompt a thorough and thoughtful public debate.
Should we accept some limits on individual autonomy in an effort to rescue
these children? Or is there a less coercive, more effective solution?

We must also not fall into the trap of seeing the legalistic tool as all we
need. Every Alberta community needs a broader social strategy to fight drug
abuse and many are developing them.

But Jablonski's bill may, depending on the details, offer some
possibilities for desperate parents.