MORE than 70 teenage drug addicts have been forced into detox in the nine months since the province of Manitoba passed new legislation that gives parents the power to have their kids arrested.
But Marymound, the non-profit counselling service that runs the temporary detox unit, is still on the hunt for a permanent home after plans to open a small unit on Scotia Street were derailed by community opposition.
"We're still looking, but we're fairly confident we'll find something," said Ian Hughes, executive director of Marymound.
The 10-bed detox or stabilization unit was set up last November when new provincial legislation called the Youth Drug Stabilization Act kicked in. It was part of new crime-fighting legislation passed last year, and it allows desperate parents to apply for a court order forcing their teen into a seven-day drug stabilization unit.
There, it's hoped the youth will sober up enough to listen to counsellors and consider voluntarily entering a long-term treatment program run by one of a number of local agencies. If not, the youth is released after a week.
Since Nov. 1, the courts have ordered police to pick up and confine 91 youths at the detox unit, and 72 teens have gone through the assessment and appeal process and finished the week-long detox.
In the first five months, Hughes said about 80 per cent of kids went from detox into a long-term drug treatment program. That number has declined slightly since April.
The detox unit has a temporary home at the MacDonald Youth Services building on Mayfair Avenue. That space is too small and poorly laid out, and MacDonald Youth Services is hoping to use the space itself at some point, said Hughes.
Last fall, Marymound tried to build an new detox unit on Scotia Street, but that bid failed after neighbours said they feared the influx of meth and crack addicts.
Hughes said he's eyeing several new locations and hopes that Marymound will be able to make a more convincing case to neighbours who fear the detox unit will be noisy, dangerous and a magnet for drug dealers. He said the first nine months on Mayfair Avenue have proved those fears unfounded.
John Borody, CEO of the Addictions Foundation of Manitoba, said he's been pleased with the fairly large number of kids whose parents have made use of the new legislation and sought detention orders. And he said a substantial number have chosen to seek long-term treatment -- another bit of good news.
"From our perspective, it seems to be working fairly well," said Borody.
There's traditionally been months-long wait lists for residential treatment beds -- a pitfall critics of the provincial government warned about early on.
But Borody said most youth who come through the stabilization unit don't want live-in treatment. Instead, they opt for community-based care where they live at home but come in for counselling and group therapy one or more times a week.
Borody said his agency and others have been successful at shoe-horning teens into counselling sessions with little or no delay.
