THE NIGHTMARE CONTINUES

ALBERTON -- Rod Callaghan's son is addicted to drugs.

Last year, he was picked up by RCMP for violent behavior and taken to
the mental ward of an Island hospital.

Health-care workers later called Callaghan to inform him they were
releasing his son.

"I said that I don't think that he should be released. I guess the
doctor thought that it should have been me in the mental hospital," he
said. "That was on a Wednesday and that weekend (my son) robbed the
Reads Corner Esso (in Summerside) and held a man at knifepoint.

"Somebody could have died that night whether it be the clerk at the
store or (my son)."

This story is one of the reasons Callaghan feels there should be a
long-term in-patient care facility for drug addicts on P.E.I.

Callaghan, who is from Alberton, said he feels drug abuse is a real
problem on P.E.I., but is a subject nobody feels comfortable talking
about.

He said jailing a person with an addiction might not always be the
answer.

"There is a lot of educated people in jail, but educated with the
wrong tools," he said.

Callaghan said there should be a treatment facility where people like
his son can go and be monitored, given an education and a chance to
get a job.

He said he realizes the cost of such a system, but said he believes it
would be cheaper than what is in place now.

Callaghan's son started using drugs when he was about
14.

Callaghan said since then, he has caused the local police a lot of
grief and has been in and out of hospitals as well as the detox in
Charlottetown many times, all of which, Callaghan expects cost the
Province quite a bit.

Callaghan said his son would usually stay in the detox or hospital for
a few days before being released. Then Callaghan or his son's mother
would pick him up and bring him home.

Callaghan said he recalls a time when his son was picked up by RCMP
and taken to the Hillsborough Hospital in Charlottetown.

Callaghan said he was admitted then released the same day and was home
before he and his son's mother were off work.

When his son became an adult, Callaghan lost all say in whether he was
treated or not.

"These people are sick people. They can't make informed decisions and
our professionals are making the decision to put them out on the
streets," he said.

"What is it going to take before our government sits down and says 'OK
we have a problem.'"

Callaghan expects his son will be released from jail next summer, but
said he and his son's mother agreed not to take him back into their
homes unless he shows he is serious about quitting drugs.

"I figure in August (my son) will be released onto the streets, with
no one to help him, nowhere to live, still an addict and with no money
to help his habit," he said.

"Every day I live afraid of what he will do when he gets
out."

Callaghan said even if a disciplined inpatient facility was
implemented on P.E.I., he's worried it might come too late for his
son.

"I'd love to see him get his life straightened out," he
said.

"But at this point, I am afraid what I'm fighting for is not going to
benefit (my son). It might benefit our grandchildren.

"What's next for (my son)? Maybe a federal penitentiary," he
said.

"It's a pretty discouraging feeling to sit here and watch him throw
away his life and not be able to do anything to help him."