SOLICITOR GENERAL PROPOSES FORCING YOUTHS INTO DETOX

New legislation to force drug-addicted youths into treatment centres would
help more young Albertans kick their dangerous, and sometimes deadly, habit.

"I think that would be a huge step in helping kids," said Dr. Dean Vause,
who heads Calgary's Adolescent Addiction Recovery Centre.

"These kids are so sick, they can't stop and they're destroying
themselves," said Vause. "Their parents can't stop them, but stepping in
front of the kids is the only way they're going to get better."

On Tuesday, Alberta's solicitor general said the government needs to
consider legislation to force addicted youths into treatment.

It would work like an existing law that allows child prostitutes to be
forced off the street and into shelters, Heather Forsyth said Tuesday,
according to a report by The Canadian Press.

"It's one of the things we could explore . . . a way a child could be
apprehended when their life is in jeopardy."

The solicitor general told more than 300 police officers, social workers
and educators who attended a workshop in Red Deer this week on
methamphetamine that any new legislation must ensure addicted minors are
not criminally charged.

"They're addicted. They aren't doing anything criminal," Forsyth said.

More programs geared toward helping addicted youth would be more effective
than legislation, said Stephen Jenuth, president of the Alberta Civil
Liberties Association.

"I don't know that we need a new law," Jenuth said. "We just need the
commitment for programs and for funding."

Drug treatment programs are most effective if families and addicts are
willing to enter, Jenuth said. "Without that buy-in initially, they tend to
fail."

Dionne Bergh, who started using drugs and drinking at age 12 and started
using crack and crystal meth a few years later, spent 400 days in a
psychiatric ward in her late teens before being sent to Calgary's
Adolescent Addiction Recovery Centre.

"I wasn't able to stop and if somebody hadn't stepped in front of me, I
don't think I'd be alive today," said Bergh, 22.

"I missed out on a lot of my life and my family's life. Maybe my life
wouldn't have gone as far down as it did."

In Red Deer, Forsyth heard the story of Shawn Yanew, who used crystal meth
as well as heroin, crack cocaine and ecstasy while he was homeless.

He spoke about how difficult it was to get drug treatment in Alberta
without being a criminal.

"I was just a regular 16-year-old, not a young offender, but you have to be
a young offender to get the help you need," said Yanew, who is now 18.

The Edmonton-area resident said he forced himself to kick the habit about a
year ago, "but (quitting) is not something everyone can do on their own."

Yanew favours Forsyth's idea about having some apprehension legislation in
place.

But he also said teachers and parents needed to do a better job of getting
the anti-drug message out to children.

There are too many soft-pedalled discussions, said Yanew. He said seeing
actual video footage of addicts having paranoid meltdowns would be a
stronger deterrent for teens.

The focus of the Red Deer forum was on crystal meth, a relatively new drug
to Alberta but rapidly catching on.

Delegates were told it can keep addicts awake for days, making them appear
old and haggard. They have a higher risk of heart attack, stroke, and liver
and kidney damage.

They struggle with disturbed sleep, violent and paranoid behaviour,
depression, irritability and nervousness.

Symptoms can be permanent and some studies suggest brain damage occurs, Dr.
David Cook of the University of Alberta told the workshop.

Crystal meth, a white crystalline powder that is usually smoked, has gained
in popularity because it creates feelings of joy, power, success, high
self-esteem and high energy, said Cook.