Monday, July 9, 2007

Mandatory Treatment Works in Alberta


The headline says, "Law Lets Parents Force Kids Into Drug Treatment."


The truth, revealed in the article is that parents can apply to the courts to have their kids placed in mandatory treatment.


Now, the details of the program reveal that not all of the program has been thoroughly thought out and perhaps there are adjustments in the works.


But the important news is that this Alberta initiative is, by any measurement, a success.


It has long been a myth of the ruling order that "motivation" is a key to success in drug rehab. Anyone who has ever worked this nightmare, however, can tell you that this is nonsense.


Motivation changes. It changes according to where you are standing at any given moment. Splashing happily along the shores creates one kind of swimmer. Swirling through undertow creates another.


We should have mandatory drug treatment for all kinds of people, young and old alike. But don't hold your breath. Too many sunshiny faces think mandatory treatment is an infringement on individual's charter rights.


Lord help us....

1 comment:

nachtwache said...

One of my pet beefs!! As a mother who had to witness her teenager slide into more and more rebellion, drugs, missing out on schooling, getting in trouble with the law.....the only place he'd go to school and church was in juvenile detention, I would have preferred a reform school, but that's against children's human rights. Right, instead they become drug addicts, criminals, prostitutes, miss years of education, die of an overdose, live on the street...we're failing our kids.
Our son started being out of control at 14, at 21 we put him on a bus to another province, with some money, advise and a one way ticket. He got independent and off drugs, but emotional, physical and psychological damages are evident, not to mention the years of school he missed. The only way we could have controlled his behaviour at home, would have been to lock him in a cage. We were being abused. I tried to find any help at all, there is none. The stress of those years has brought on depression for myself, Crohns disease for my husband. Our daughter, being younger, seemed to become stronger and made very different choices than her brother. Both are doing well now. Yes, society needs to help parents help the kids!