CANADA MUST STOP ENABLING MINORS WHO USE DRUGS

To the editor:

Enabling drug addiction, especially for a minor should be serious
crime. Unfortunately there's little investigation and even less
punishment under the current application of the law.

Who's responsible when a child becomes addicted to something like
methamphetamine or crack cocaine? The obvious culprits are the
dealers whom our prime minister has targeted. But sometimes it's
also the parents.

We're so busy treating drug use as a social problem that leniency is
now the accepted norm. But in cases of hard-drug use, and chronic
drug use of any sort, why not force the defendant to lead police to
the dealer by threatening the maximum sentence unless he co-operates?
The dealer would also face a maximum sentence unless he, in turn, led
police further up the supply chain.

Some say society can't win a war against drugs. But you could say
the same thing about any crime. We have laws against murder, but
over 600 people were murdered last year. Should we just give up?

Courts and jails are backed up, but standing up to drug dealers would
eventually result in a reduction in the number of people going
through court and into prison. We only need to catch the top
dogs. Some say there's always another dealer waiting to step
in. Don't worry: we'll catch him too as long as we have the will.

The threat of a stiff sentence is also the best way to get through to
a child. We need to find out who broke the law twice, once by
illegally selling drugs and again morally by selling them to a minor.

Then there are rare cases where parents are responsible. Parents of
minors caught under the influence of drugs should be subject to an
immediate search of their property to see if they have played a role
in enabling their child's addiction. They'd be subject to the same
enforcement procedure as though they themselves had been caught using drugs.

Naturally, many parents would be found innocent, and some might
complain that the search of their property was unwarranted. But
their rights must be weighed against society's desire to prevent
children from becoming chronic victims of drug addiction. If the
parents have nothing to hide, they shouldn't mind proving it, and it
only stands to reason that those closest to an addicted child should
be eliminated from an investigation before police invest resources
looking elsewhere.

No new law is required; simply the application of existing laws which
say drugs are illegal and parents are responsible for their children.
Parents might be found to be using different drugs than their child,
but drugs are drugs, and any evidence of illegal drug use would be
taken as an indication that the parents might be responsible for the
initiation, development and perpetuation of their child's addiction.
If the parents wish to argue that their drug use is purely
coincidental, they could certainly try to prove it in court.

For obvious reasons, drug-peddling parents will much prefer the
current system. In fact, it would be interesting to find out how
many times an officer even bothers to search a parent's home after a
minor is caught using drugs. The sad fact is that if officers pursue
such cases, the authorities too often don't bother to prosecute them.

By that same token, drug dealers, also love our current justice
system which views drug addiction as a social problem rather than a
criminal offence. People on drugs do indeed have a problem, but in
addition to our prime minister's plan to spend $35 million to help
them get off drugs, we need to also give addicts the opportunity to
contribute to solving the problem by shutting down the dealers.

If the message was sent to drug dealers that every sale they made
could bring the law right to their door, and if drug-peddling or
drug-using parents knew their lifestyle could likewise lead to an
encounter with the law through the irresponsible activities of their
children, both of these groups of enablers might think twice before
selfishly satisfying their own desires.

Without such application of the law,drug dealers and drug-addicted
parents will continue to have no concern for the welfare of children.
And in the end, that hurts everyone.

Mischa Popoff
Osoyoos, B.C.