Pubdate: Fri, 19 Jan 2007 Source: Edmonton Journal (CN AB) Copyright: 2007 The Edmonton Journal Contact: http://www.canada.com/edmonton/edmontonjournal/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/134 Author: Florence Loyie Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mjcn.htm (Cannabis - Canada) DRUG ENDANGERED CHILDREN ACT GIVES POLICE TOOL TO HALT ABUSE EDMONTON - As a member of Edmonton's green team, RCMP Cpl. Ian Gillan has seen too many heartbreaking cases of young children being neglected or abused because of their parents' drug activity. The father of two wholeheartedly supports Alberta's Drug Endangered Children legislation, which strengthens police power to seize and hold children found living in homes where drugs are sold or produced. "I've been pushing the DEC agenda since 2003 when I first became aware of it," Gillan said Thursday, during a break in an RCMP-hosted investigator training session at K-Division headquarters. "I have come across homes with children that are absolutely heart-wrenching," Gillan said. "I have seen drug addicts show up at a drug dealer's house at three in the morning in minus 30 with a three-day-old baby in a basket with a pile of rigs and syringes, looking for reloads." On Nov. 1, Alberta became the first jurisdiction in Canada to pass legislation giving police the power to charge parents with exposing their children to drugs. Under the Drug Endangered Children Act, officers can seize and hold for two days children found living in homes where drugs are sold or produced, such as methamphetamine labs or indoor marijuana grow operations. If the children cannot be safely returned after the two days, they will begin receiving help under Alberta's Child, Youth and Family Enhancement Act. More than two dozen RCMP members, along with a number of police officers from across Alberta, took part in Thursday's training session designed to educate them on how to investigate cases of drug-endangered children. The training also included investigators from Alberta Children's and Family Services, and members of the Medicine Hat fire service and the Edmonton fire department. The training session involved not only teaching investigators how to recognize the environmental signs that a child is drug-endangered, it also included interviewing techniques that won't cause unnecessary stress to the child or cause them to fear their parents or guardians. "The issue of children exposed to the dangers of drug manufacturing, indoor marijuana grow operations and drug trafficking is becoming more common," said Staff Sgt. Ian Sanderson, of the RCMP's northwest region drugs and organized crime awareness service. "Research has found that drug-endangered children are at high risk for chronic respiratory disorders, neurological damage, cancer and physical, emotional and sexual abuse," he said. In the worst-case scenarios like clandestine meth labs, where the drugs are cooked in the home, children are exposed to a toxic chemical stew that coats their clothes, walls and carpets, and endangers them to explosions and fire. Even a child's beloved pet can be exposed and contaminated by the toxins, sometimes leading to its death. Gillan said the training provided by the RCMP should give trainees an awareness that police now have a tool to deal with the issue of drug-endangered children, and that the legislation is all about their well-being. "It's not about charging the parents or convicting anyone. It's an intervention that is designed to protect the kids and give them a chance at a positive life instead of the negative one they are probably going to have living in drug houses," he said. Two weeks after the legislation was enacted, Edmonton police took a two-year-old toddler found in a west-end drug house into protective custody. Officers seized several dozen Oxycontin tablets, one gram of cocaine, ammunition, a sawed-off shotgun, a rifle and more than $700 in cash from the house. In December, Calgary police seized six children following two separate marijuana grow-op busts in that city. - --- MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman