DRUG RESCUE DAD PRAISED BY PARENTS OF ADDICTS

PARENTS of drug addicts have defended the actions of a Queensland father who
tried to rescue his daughter from the streets of Sydney's Kings Cross.

Parents and Friends of Deceased Drug Users spokeswoman Sue Koningen said
that while more and more children were taking drugs, parents were left to
watch their children die.

"They assume that we're all terrible parents who have booted their kids out
... so you don't have any rights," Ms Koningen said.

"Until you've been in the situation you don't realise how urgent it is. This
is your pride and joy and they're in crisis and you can't help them in any
way, shape or form."

In March, Perry Jewell, of Toowoomba, grabbed his heroin-addicted daughter
Samantha, 19, from Kings Cross where she was working as a prostitute.

He took her to a farm for 10 days but she escaped and Mr Jewell was charged
with kidnap and assault. The charges were dropped this week after Samantha
said her father had acted for her "own good".

Ms Koningen said every one of the 600 families the organisation had contact
with felt frustrated because they had "no rights" and were "powerless" in
trying to save their children.

"And the younger they are the worse the frustration is," she said. "We have
a mother whose child was 15 years of age. She's in jail now, is still on
drugs and has been pack-raped and there was nowhere and nobody to help that
mother with her daughter."

Therese Dulson, who lost her daughter Candi last year after she overdosed on
prescription drugs, said parents of drug addicts were treated like
"second-rate citizens".

She said when her daughter first came home "high on drugs" she phoned the
police for help and they dropped her off on the streets because she was over
18.

"I didn't see her again for two weeks and she had started using heroin and
had got in trouble with the law," Mrs Dulson said.

"I feel today when I look back at the situation if the police had acted
differently that night, allowed her to stay here or helped us get her to the
hospital - it would never had gone as far as it did."

Alcohol and Drug Foundation chief executive Bob Aldred said it was
inappropriate action for someone to kidnap a person over 18 and society had
to find better strategies to cope with teenagers in the same situation.

"Forcing people into treatment isn't necessarily going to be productive
anyway," he said. "All the research and expertise shows a person who goes
into treatment by compulsion has a low chance of success, so you're not
really achieving much."

"As a community we have to take responsibility for providing appropriate
interventions for young people so they have a reasonable chance of success."

Checked-by: Don Beck