'FORCED ABSTINENCE' FOR YOUNG DRUG USERS

Canberra's specialist children's magistrate has bemoaned the fact that the
only way to wean young users off drugs might be to lock them up and hope
that forced abstinence will help.

Magistrate Shane Madden has complained about the lack of both detoxification
and non-mainstream educational facilities for young offenders in the ACT.

In the same case, he ticked off police for taking part in the high-speed
chase of a car stolen by a 14-year-old offender in February.

In recent Children's Court proceedings, Mr Madden ordered the boy to spend
three months in a juvenile institution, on top of the 57 days already spent
in custody.

He was most concerned to learn that the boy had been smoking cannabis for
two or three years, at a rate of up to five cones a day. A month before the
current offences, he had started using heroin.

Mr Madden noted that the boy had received no drug counselling.

He was concerned that there was no residential detoxification venue in
Canberra for young people. "The only recourse is to place them in custody in
the hope that abstinence will produce some progress in curbing their drug
habit," he said.

The boy had dropped out of formal education and was regarded as unsuitable
for the mainstream education system.

"I have previously commented on the fact that the ACT makes no provision for
children in their later teenage years who are unable to cope with the
conventional school system and whose lives lead to crime simply by way of
boredom when they are not attending some structured program," he said.

The boy was before the court for driving dangerously in Belconnen in a car
stolen from Civic. A police pursuit occurred, with speeds of up to 120km/h
recorded in an 80km/h zone. The pursuit came to a halt in the Canberra High
School car park.

Mr Madden said the unlawful use of cars by juveniles was a prevalent
offence. It raised the issue of the safety of the wider community.

Police involvement in high-speed pursuits was to be discouraged. While the
property of the public needed to be protected, it was "of critical
importance as a public-safety issue that lives are not put at risk by such
pursuit chases".

At the time of this offence, the boy had been on bail for having stolen a
car from the Belconnen Mall nine days earlier. He had also been charged with
stealing photographic and other equipment worth $3500 from an apartment in
Bruce.

Just over a year ago, the boy was committed to an institution for nine
months on 40 offences of burglary, theft and property damage.

Magistrate Maria Doogan's decision to have the boy locked up was reversed on
appeal by the Supreme Court in September. Five months later, he had been
rearrested.