Pubdate: Tue, 17 Jul 2007 Source: Innisfail Province (CN AB) Copyright: 2007 Mountain View Publishing Contact: http://www.innisfailprovince.ca Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3607 Author: Dan Singleton, For the Innisfail Province Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/youth.htm (Youth) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/rehab.htm (Treatment) Guest Editorial CHILD ABUSE LAW PROVES ITS WORTH A year after coming into effect, the province's landmark law aimed at protecting children from the scourge of drug and alcohol abuse has proven its worth. The Protection of Children Abusing Drugs Act allows a parent or guardian of a child who is using alcohol or drugs in a way that is endangering their lives to apply to the courts to have the child taken into protective custody. Once in custody, the child is taken to a safe house for up to five days, where he or she is offered detoxification service and assessment. Officials also work with the child to develop a voluntary treatment plan. To date, almost 400 children have been taken into the program, with 229 agreeing following their week in custody to continue with volunteer recovery programs. "It provides an opportunity to reach out to a child that may have resisted seeking help voluntarily or is in danger to themselves or to others," said MLA Dave Rodney, who spearheaded the new law. "We have connected youth and families we may otherwise not have been able to help," added Harvey Cenaiko, AADAC chairman. While some people have argued over the past year that compelling children into detoxification programs is unfair and an unreasonable breech of their privacy rights, the undeniable success of the program has proved its worth. As the first province in Canada to enact legislation that compels young people to at least consider changing their ways, Alberta has taken an important new direction that other provinces should consider following. With the success of the new youth program, could it perhaps be time to consider a similar non-criminal program for adults? As the very busy court system proves, there is no shortage of adult offenders who, because of alcohol or drug addition, continue to offend year in and year out. For example, there are many offenders in central Alberta who chronically drive while impaired, and despite being caught and fined or even jailed, they continue to offend. Would provincial legislation that allows alcoholic or drug addicted adults to be taken into custody and compelled to undergo detoxification over a period of weeks or even months be a benefit to the community-at-large? Would Alberta be a safer place if repeat offenders were literally forced to face up to their underlying addiction problems? Naturally some people would come out strongly against any plans to transfer the lessons learned with the youth program to adult situations. Yet as the new legislation has shown over the past year, positive changes are possible. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom