POT A TICKET TO TEEN TROUBLE

Marijuana A Common Denominator In Youth Court Cases, Judge Says

KITCHENER -- Marijuana use is the most common thread running through cases
of teens in trouble with the law, a youth court judge told a Kitchener
class yesterday. "The majority of kids that we see, who have lost the life
they could have had, are into marijuana and only marijuana. It is a very
addictive substance," not the soft, harmless drug some believe it to be,
said Justice Paddy Hardman.

These teens often resort to stealing from family, friends and neighbours
and breaking into homes to feed their habit, Hardman said, adding that the
average age of the youths that appear before her in court is 14, and most
are males.

Hardman was speaking to Grade 6 students from Sheppard Public School who
had sat in her courtroom earlier as she decided on the fate of youths
charged with criminal offences.

The harshest penalty Hardman handed down in front of the class was a 60-day
jail sentence to a 17-year-old male who had pleaded guilty to shoplifting,
uttering death threats, resisting arrest and breaching a bail condition
regarding curfew.

The teen started his crime spree by stealing items from a store and
stuffing them down the front of his pants.

Then he got angry when his girlfriend broke up with him, and threatened to
cut off the heads of her parents. These threats in conjunction with his
drug abuse created a "very, very scary set of circumstances" for the
family, Hardman said.

The teen had come from a difficult background. He and his mother lost their
family home in a fire and have since moved around a lot, causing the youth
to change schools about three times a year.

When police arrested him, he was living in a car with his mother, Hardman said.

The teen turned to drugs to escape his life and now "drugs are in charge of
him," she said.

Hardman said she hopes jail will lead him to turn his life around.

Her advice to the students is: Make good choices, don't associate with bad
students and don't take drugs or smoke.

But how do you know which students are bad? one girl asked.

Check out the school's smoking area, Hardman advised.

The judge said that whenever she drives by a school's smoking area, she
recognizes more than 50 per cent of the students from court.

"People who make bad decisions about what they put in their mouths or body,
make bad decisions across the board," she said.

"You didn't get the impression that I was nice?" she asked the students
about the cases they heard. "I hope not. I want these kids to have a life.
They need to know that crime doesn't pay.

"What we are dealing with here is life-turning decisions," she said about court.