NEW LAW TO PROTECT CHILDREN FROM DRUG USAGE

The Government of Alberta is taking steps to ensure children exposed
to drug activity can be protected.

The Government of Alberta is taking steps to ensure children exposed
to drug activity can be protected.

A new law, which went into effect Nov.1, allows child intervention
caseworkers and police to rescue and protect children based solely on
the fact they are endangered by the drug activities of adults. The
law, which is the first of its kind in Canada, aims to reduce the
amount of children affected by drug activity like manufacturing and
trafficking in their home.

"This legislation recognizes that a child exposed to an adult's
involvement in serious drug activity -- and by serious we mean drug
manufacturing going on in the home, for instance -- can be
protected," said Jody Korchinski with Alberta Children's Services.
"The health effects -- especially for children -- can be very
serious, and these places are no place to raise children."

The legislation was enacted in part due to research that has found
drug-endangered children are at a high-risk for chronic respiratory
disorders, neurological damage, cancer, and physical, emotional and
sexual abuse. The Alberta government defines a drug-endangered child
as any child who is, or likely to be, harmed due to an adult's drug
activity. This includes being in a place where crystal meth is being
made or marijuana is being grown, or being present when drugs are being sold.

"The law provides police and front-line social workers the tools they
need to take immediate action to protect those children," said
Korchinski. "Certainly we were able to apprehend children before, but
this does provide a clear tool so that there is certainly no doubt
for front-line workers and police that a child exposed is a child who
is being abused and requires attention and protection."

While supportive of the initiative, Sgt. Ken Marchand of the
Lloydminster RCMP is unsure how the new law will impact the Border City.

"It will affect two-thirds of our city, but since it's so new we
really haven't had time to sit down and digest what's in there," said
Marchand. "Anytime a child is apprehended from a situation like that,
it automatically involves social services, so it's a matter of
sitting down with them and looking at it on a case-by-case basis."