Drug and alcohol addiction and abuse. Recognition. Prevention. Treatment
20/20 Parenting. Recognizing and mitigating early vulnerabilities and risk factors.
Letters to Kerry
Stories of Victory, Struggle, Tragedy, & Workplace Concerns
October 18, 2007:
Excerpt from Gina's letter to various authorities requesting letters of endorsement, (of interest to Canadian residents):
I am in the process of pressing for legislation through a private members bill in BC Parliament with my MP and MLAs that will address the health, safety, and well-being of our children who are abusing and addicted to illegal drugs.
Currently, in British Columbia, our children, through the Age of Consent law, and the Federal Privacy Act, section 8 (2) have a legal right to self-destruct with illegal drugs. Unless a child is arrested for a crime, the court accepts the case, and the child is found guilty of a crime, the child cannot be mandated to a detox or drug treatment program by parents or anyone else.
In BC, it is said that it takes a willing participant to be accepted into a program. It is also said that when a child is addicted, we must wait until they hit 'rock bottom', and even then we cannot intervene if the child does not want help. We know that the teen brain is still a work in progress, and development continues into the early twenties. We also know that mind-altering drugs have a negative affect on growing and developing brains and bodies. Both of these facts impair wise decision-making.
In Alberta, in March, 2005, a private members bill (Bill 202) "PCHAD - Protection of Children Addicted to Drugs" was unanimously passed. Party politics was put aside, as was the regular business in the House, so that this law could be passed before the House was closed for the session. Two precedents were set that day. For the first time in 99 years, regular business was set aside to deal with a private members bill, and there was a unanimous vote for third reading. The Speaker of the House commented on the uniqueness of this situation, as never before had all parties set aside their partisan politics and dealt with a bill before them as a human issue vs. a political one...
The previously legislated PCHIP "Protection of Children Involved in Prostitution" bill helped to set a precedent for Bill 202 to be passed. As we know, many children involved in prostitution are also involved with drugs.
Since this law was legislated in Alberta in July, 2006, 500 families have accessed the program, and fifty percent of those youth went on to voluntarily take part in addiction treatment. Fifty percent, you will agree, is a very high success rate.
I have been meeting with the MLA in my riding for the past three years, and he is now saying that it would be helpful for him to have endorsements. I have recently obtained a unanimous endorsement from the Fraser Valley Family Court and Youth Justice Committee, a committee represented by five municipalities. I have also obtained unanimous endorsement from our Township Council, and am delegating to our City Council on October 22. I have requested endorsements from other community groups as well. Over the past three years, I have written to every politician, both provincial and federal, on this issue. I have had no success in hearing back from them, other than they received my information. I have also started a petition in my community, and many people have been alarmed to find out that they have no parental rights to their own children after the age of 12, (Federal Privacy Act) and certainly by the Age of Consent (14).
Our MLA tells us that the biggest obstacle in parliament to passing such legislation is the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. However, the most widely accepted charter of rights for our children is the United Nation's Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Article 33 Clearly States That:
"Parties shall take all appropriate measures, including legislative, administrative, social and educational measures, to protect children from the illicit use of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances as defined in the relevant international treaties, and to prevent the use of children in the illicit production and trafficking of such substances."
Now, we have plenty of laws that hold parents accountable for their children's health and safety, but we also have other laws that make it impossible for parents or police to intervene when a child is abusing illegal drugs.
Surely, you will agree that no one benefits when a child is left to make their own decisions until they are further entrenched in addiction and the only way they can be protected from this harm is to face a judge on a criminal offense. Even then, mandatory rehabilitation may not be ordered.
Would you be prepared to write a letter of endorsement to our MLA and MP, encouraging them to take this Alberta law as an example of success, and legislate a same law for British Columbia?...
Please consider this an urgent matter.
Thanks in advance.
Sincerely,
Gina..., Parent and Child Advocate
We ask for your participation in this urgent and much needed effort through distribution of our petition sheet with list of government contact persons. A letter to the same officials in addition would be even more powerful.
K
