FORCED DRUG TREATMENT FOR KIDS NOT THE ANSWER

There are no quick fixes to curbing drug addiction, which is why Tory MLA
Mary-Anne Jablonski's proposal to force drug-abusing kids into treatment
was bound to fail.

Constitutionally, her private member's bill is a nightmare. As desperate as
some parents are to get their teens off drugs, mandatory treatment is a
hit-and-miss approach.

While forced treatment would get kids into care, there's no compelling
evidence that, in the long term, it works any better than voluntary
programs, according to experts.

"Anything to expand addiction treatment is a good thing," says Cameron
Wild, a University of Alberta professor of public health sciences.

"Whether this is a good idea, I have my doubts."

The idea of mandatory drug treatment for kids is fraught with pitfalls,
says Wild. For one thing, parents might inappropriately use such a law to
control their children, says Wild.

Parents often can't distinguish between occasional drug use and full-blown
addiction, and using "heavy-handed" tactics could alienate them from their
children, he notes.

A relationship of trust between parents and teens is a crucial factor in
the kind of behaviour kids engage in, he adds.

Nevertheless, Wild says he sympathizes with families in distress because of
drug problems. "Having a kid with an addiction issue can be really
devastating to parents and family and friends. People are suffering."

But compulsory treatment orders typically aren't followed up with the
necessary funding to meet the demand, Wild says. "Often these things sound
better than they turn out to be."

Kids are already having a difficult time accessing drug treatment in the
province because of a lack of capacity, he says.

The one bright note is that the Bridges program, an intensive residential
drug-treatment plan for male young offenders, run by the John Howard
Society, is likely to be a permanent fixture.

Bridges was a one-year pilot project that was supposed to lose its funding
at the end of the month but it looks like it will continue, says program
manager Janice Bardestani.

Teen males who are serving open custody sentences can volunteer to get help
at the 12-bed centre.

"They really like it. It forces them to be honest with themselves and each
other," says Bardestani.

But the program is only for teens who have been involved with the justice
system.

As yet, there are still no residential treatment centres for drug-addicted
teens who haven't been convicted of a crime.

So even if the province were to pass a law mandating drug treatment for
teens, where would we put them? We can't even help the young, chronic
addicts who already need residential treatment.

Last month, Health Minister Iris Evans said that the draft budget contains
funding for up to four such centres. But political pledges often don't see
the light of day.

So perhaps it's for the best that we bury the notion of coerced treatment
before we're forced to acknowledge that there's no structure in place to
implement it.

Jablonski's heart is certainly in the right place. Parents whose kids are
addicted to drugs are at their wits' end. Some see forced rehabilitation as
a solution.

But that approach risks causing even more problems. What about a young
person's charter rights? Where will we find the beds to house all these
kids? And will the teens be better off in the end?

"You would rip them out of their social and personal environment against
their will," says Benedikt Fischer, associate professor of public health
sciences at the University of Toronto.

The collateral damage may outweigh any benefits of the treatment, he warns.
"We're fairly helpless on this particular issue," he says of youth drug
addiction.

Even the experts can't offer much reassurance on this one.