Pubdate: Sat, 23 Jun 2012
Source: Calgary Herald (CN AB)
Copyright: 2012 Canwest Publishing Inc.
Contact: http://www2.canada.com/calgaryherald/letters.html
Website: http://www.calgaryherald.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/66
Author: Kelly Cryderman
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/rehab.htm (Treatment)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/youth.htm (Youth)

FORCED REHAB FOR YOUTH ADDICTS EXTENDED

Alberta parents will be able to force their severely drug addicted 
teens into longer detox programs under revisions to a law coming into 
effect July 1.

The province has had legislation allowing parents or guardians to get 
a court order to lock up their children in mandatory alcohol and drug 
treatment programs since 2006. However, changes extending the period 
of forcible confinement to 10 days from the current five were passed 
by the legislature in 2009 - and will at long last come into force on 
Canada Day.

The modifications also include a provision for a judge to extend the 
treatment to 15 days, if deemed necessary.

Although civil liberties advocates have long warned the forced 
confinement law could be abused, a support group for families dealing 
with substance abuse and addiction welcomed the move to longer 
lockups - saying they're used only as a last-ditch option when other 
treatments have failed.

"When you've got a kid who's really addicted to drugs, and leading a 
high-risk lifestyle, you need to be able to do some kind of an 
intervention and stop the chaos," said Maralyn Benay, executive 
director of Parents Empowering Parents. Benay said the current five 
days of confinement is not enough time for some children and 
teenagers to benefit from treatment.

"Five days is nothing. All that does is make the kid mad," she said. 
"So we need the 10 days and actually even longer."

The updates to the law were passed in the legislature three years 
ago, but Alberta Health Minister Fred Horne said the government 
needed time to make sure it had enough room for youths forced into 
longer programs.

"We didn't have enough treatment spaces available in Alberta to 
actually be able to implement the law. So we have those now," Horne 
told reporters in Calgary on Friday.

The province has added six extra beds to deal with the longer stays. 
As of next month, Alberta Health Services says there will be a total 
of 21 beds in four protective safe houses - one in Grande Prairie, 
nine in Edmonton, five in Red Deer and six beds in Calgary.

Almost 4,000 children and youth have been admitted to the program 
since the original legislation was passed six years ago. Horne said 
the program is well-used and makes a difference to families who feel 
they've exhausted all other options.

"This has proven to be a very successful and popular mechanism for 
getting at children and youth that are hard to reach," the minister said.

"This is kind of an extreme measure, right? Because it involves a 
parent or guardian sometimes working in cooperation with the police, 
seeking authorization to force the treatment."

However Wildrose MLA Heather Forsyth, a longtime champion of the 
forced drug and alcohol treatment law, said it's a shame the 
government has taken this long to get new beds in place so the 
legislated changes can take effect.

"In my mind, if you bring legislation forward in 2009, then you 
should have the facilities ready," said Forsyth, who spearheaded the 
amendments to the bill when she was still a government MLA.

"We had children waiting," she added. "We didn't have the facilities for them."

Under the new rules, parents must also attend a counselling session 
led by an addictions counsellor before going forward with a court application.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom