FETAL RIGHTS NO NEW SOLVENT LAWS PLANNED BY SOCIAL SERVICES

Edmonton - The provincial government has no plans to introduce new
laws to stop pregnant women from sniffing solvents, says a Social
Services official.

Education - not jail time - is the key to keeping pregnant women away
from the dangerous habit, says Kathy Lazowski, spokesperson for
Alberta Family and Social Services.

"Education is seen as a more effective method or approach," she said
Thursday. "It is 100 per cent preventable."

"Studies have found those who enter treatment under legal pressure are
less likely to remain in or respond to treatment."

The government is planning an awareness campaign to get the message
home that drinking, drugs and pregnancy don't mix, Lazowski said.

Reid Children with fetal alcohol syndrome may require up to
$1.5-million in special care, support and supervision during their
lifetimes, she said.

But Edmonton police repeated their calls Thursday for politicians to
act on the issue after a downtown beat officer arrested a pregnant
solvent sniffer last week.

Jeanette Reid, 33, is scheduled to move to the Fort Saskatchewan
Correctional Centre today to serve her six-month sentence for inhaling
an intoxicating vapour.

Reid gave birth to a baby boy Saturday about 12 hours after being
arrested. The infant is her seventh child.

Human rights activists complained police used Reid as a guinea pig to
push for change.

But Edmonton police have no reason to apologize for their actions,
police information officer Sgt. Bryan Boulanger said.

He called solvent abuse a hidden problem and said police are the ones
who have to deal with the consequences.

"We're not hanging our head in shame for what we've done," he said.
"We do have a right to a social conscience."

He said police would like to see new laws passed giving them the
powers to place abusers in treatment facilities, rather than in jail.

He pointed to The Protection of Children Involved in Prostitution Act,
passed in February, as an example of what legislation could
accomplish. It allows police and social workers to apprehend and
confine child prostitutes in a safe house for up to 72 hours.

But legislation is definitely not the right way to prevent pregnant
women from sniffing, said Dr. Paul Byrne, co-director of the John
Dossetor Health Ethics Centre at the University of Alberta.

Bryne would like to see programs developed to help solvent abusers in
the inner-city.

"It's not going to be successful to attempt to introduce legislation
or use other coercive means to get them to changing their behaviour."

Police said they understood the woman was seven months pregnant when
they arrested her.

But Byrne, who is also a newborn intensive care specialist at the
University Hospital, said by then it's too late.

"The damage has already been done probably 15 to 20 weeks before."

Checked-by: "Rich O'Grady"