Pubdate: Sun, 11 Feb 2007
Source: Quesnel Cariboo Observer (CN BC)
Copyright: 2007 Quesnel Cariboo Observer
Contact:  http://www.quesnelobserver.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1260
Author: John King
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/coke.htm (Cocaine)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/testing.htm (Drug Test)

TESTS CONFIRM COCAINE IN TWO-YEAR-OLD GIRL

Just before midnight Sunday, Mounties answered a call from medical 
staff at G.R. Baker Memorial Hospital.

Arriving at the emergency room, RCMP officers found a mother and her 
young daughter, just two years old, suffering from symptoms of cocaine use.

A negative-positive drug test confirmed cocaine in their blood, but 
medical officials and RCMP did not know how much cocaine was found in 
either the mother's or child's system by Thursday.

But RCMP said medical staff initiated the tests and called police 
when the mother alleged sexual assault was committed and her daughter 
was given cocaine.

With a parallel investigation unfolding where RCMP are working with 
Children and Family Development Ministry investigators, police are 
not releasing the identity of the child or the mother -- but do say 
the girl's parents are known to police.

"We're in the early stages of an investigation," Quesnel RCMP Sgt. 
Gary Clark-Marlow said Wednesday.

"We're determining where the drug came from and how it ended up in 
the child. Until that happens, we're going to go step-by-step. 
There's a lot of unknowns and until there's more information, we 
can't predict what kind of charges could be laid."

Police could place charges from trafficking to possession of an 
illegal substance or even negligence.

Officials with Children and Family Development Ministry said the 
child was not seized. Instead the child remained in the hospital 
receiving medical attention.

Wednesday, ministry spokesperson Kelly Gleeson couldn't confirm 
whether or not the child was released, but did say there was a social 
worker in the hospital.

"[Seizing a child is] not always the case. If in fact the child 
remains in the hospital, it would be in the care of the ministry, not 
physically removed," he said.

With 30,000 cases province-wide, Gleeson said the ministry doesn't 
track the ones where children are found with illegal drugs in their 
bloodstream.

"Every case is assessed individually," he said.

"Once we're alerted to a child needing protection we respond 
immediately, like we do with all cases."

Now, social workers will figure out what steps to take next. Gleeson 
said each situation requires a different course of action depending 
on what the child needs.
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MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman