70 TEEN ADDICTS FORCED INTO DETOX

MORE than 70 teenage drug addicts have been forced into detox in the
nine months since the province passed new legislation that gives
parents the power to have their kids arrested.

But Marymound, the non-profit counselling service that runs the
temporary detox unit, is still on the hunt for a permanent home after
plans to open a small unit on Scotia Street were derailed by
community opposition.

"We're still looking, but we're fairly confident we'll find
something," said Ian Hughes, executive director of Marymound.

The 10-bed detox or stabilization unit was set up last November when
new provincial legislation called the Youth Drug Stabilization Act
kicked in. It was part of new crime-fighting legislation passed last
year, and it allows desperate parents to apply for a court order
forcing their teen into a seven-day drug stabilization unit.

There, it's hoped the youth will sober up enough to listen to
counsellors and consider voluntarily entering a long-term treatment
program run by one of a number of local agencies. If not, the youth
is released after a week.

Since Nov. 1, the courts have ordered police to pick up and confine
91 youths at the detox unit, and 72 teens have gone through the
assessment and appeal process and finished the week-long detox.

In the first five months, Hughes said about 80 per cent of kids went
from detox into a long-term drug treatment program. That number has
declined slightly since April.

The detox unit has a temporary home at the MacDonald Youth Services
building on Mayfair Avenue. That space is too small and poorly laid
out, and MacDonald Youth Services is hoping to use the space itself
at some point, said Hughes.

Last fall, Marymound tried to build an new detox unit on Scotia
Street, but that bid failed after neighbours said they feared the
influx of meth and crack addicts.

Hughes said he's eyeing several new locations and hopes that
Marymound will be able to make a more convincing case to neighbours
who fear the detox unit will be noisy, dangerous and a magnet for
drug dealers. He said the first nine months on Mayfair Avenue have
proved those fears unfounded.

John Borody, CEO of the Addictions Foundation of Manitoba, said he's
been pleased with the fairly large number of kids whose parents have
made use of the new legislation and sought detention orders. And he
said a substantial number have chosen to seek long-term treatment --
another bit of good news.

"From our perspective, it seems to be working fairly well," said Borody.

There's traditionally been months-long wait lists for residential
treatment beds -- a pitfall critics of the provincial government
warned about early on.

But Borody said most youth who come through the stabilization unit
don't want live-in treatment. Instead, they opt for community-based
care where they live at home but come in for counselling and group
therapy one or more times a week.

Borody said his agency and others have been successful at
shoe-horning teens into counselling sessions with little or no delay.