As it currently stands in Edmonton, the capital of the Alberta province, parents have the right to court order drug addicted teens for up to five days in a drug abuse program with no strings attached.  However, because of the recent rise in crystal meth use across Canada, which has augmented the court orders under the Protection of Children Abusing Drugs Act (PChAD) to more than 1,500 since July of 2006, Canadian law makers are considering a referendum to change the current five day, stay limit to between 10-15 days.

The new Canadian drug abuse, program reform would also call for more parental involvement and funding for treatment centers and addiction specialists from the Alberta Alcohol and Drug Addiction Commission, to the tune of $13.9 million in just the first year.  Still, Canadians in general are supportive of the referendum.  Most parents feel that the court ordered stays in drug abuse programs is their only tool in the fight against the epidemic of teen drug addiction currently sweeping the Canadian province of Alberta.

AADAC’s executive director of the PCHAD program, Diann Tansem, had this to say about parents’ point of view on the new reform: “What we’ve learned is many parents see this as their only resort,” she said. “For them, it is a first step to getting their child into AADAC.”

Canadian parents can expect to see the new drug abuse program reform soon, as it will take affect later this month (April 2009).