Pubdate: Sat, Oct 3 1998 Source: Courier Mail (Australia) Contact: 15 Author: Ali Lawlor DRUG RESCUE DAD PRAISED BY PARENTS OF ADDICTS PARENTS of drug addicts have defended the actions of a Queensland father who tried to rescue his daughter from the streets of Sydney's Kings Cross. Parents and Friends of Deceased Drug Users spokeswoman Sue Koningen said that while more and more children were taking drugs, parents were left to watch their children die. "They assume that we're all terrible parents who have booted their kids out ... so you don't have any rights," Ms Koningen said. "Until you've been in the situation you don't realise how urgent it is. This is your pride and joy and they're in crisis and you can't help them in any way, shape or form." In March, Perry Jewell, of Toowoomba, grabbed his heroin-addicted daughter Samantha, 19, from Kings Cross where she was working as a prostitute. He took her to a farm for 10 days but she escaped and Mr Jewell was charged with kidnap and assault. The charges were dropped this week after Samantha said her father had acted for her "own good". Ms Koningen said every one of the 600 families the organisation had contact with felt frustrated because they had "no rights" and were "powerless" in trying to save their children. "And the younger they are the worse the frustration is," she said. "We have a mother whose child was 15 years of age. She's in jail now, is still on drugs and has been pack-raped and there was nowhere and nobody to help that mother with her daughter." Therese Dulson, who lost her daughter Candi last year after she overdosed on prescription drugs, said parents of drug addicts were treated like "second-rate citizens". She said when her daughter first came home "high on drugs" she phoned the police for help and they dropped her off on the streets because she was over 18. "I didn't see her again for two weeks and she had started using heroin and had got in trouble with the law," Mrs Dulson said. "I feel today when I look back at the situation if the police had acted differently that night, allowed her to stay here or helped us get her to the hospital - it would never had gone as far as it did." Alcohol and Drug Foundation chief executive Bob Aldred said it was inappropriate action for someone to kidnap a person over 18 and society had to find better strategies to cope with teenagers in the same situation. "Forcing people into treatment isn't necessarily going to be productive anyway," he said. "All the research and expertise shows a person who goes into treatment by compulsion has a low chance of success, so you're not really achieving much." "As a community we have to take responsibility for providing appropriate interventions for young people so they have a reasonable chance of success." - --- Checked-by: Don Beck