FORGET 'TOUGH LOVE'

I posted earlier about the parents that chose to send their kids to jail for their drug use. Luckily we have intelligent readers of the Winnipeg Free Press to give us some much-needed common sense.

FORGET 'TOUGH LOVE'

Re: Getting 'Tough-Love' On Crime, Nov. 4.

As a youth worker, I have worked with youth of many ages and backgrounds who have had addiction problems, and have seen youth with addictions from mild to life-threatening. I have seen and studied various techniques for dealing with drug use, and the "scared straight" or boot camp approach is largely regarded as ineffective. Taking your children to jail should be a last resort. The solution to a drug problem is not to take the drugs away from the kids, or to take the kids away from the drugs. It's to find out why the kids are doing them in the first place. Drug addiction is the symptom of a problem, not the problem itself.

Winnipeg is host to several drug treatment programs but more are needed. It would certainly be nice if a simple thing like three days in jail would cure anyone of a serious addiction, but the reality of addiction treatment is a long and difficult process. What Winnipeg needs is a good, secure, long-term facility that can take in addicts of all ages and backgrounds and treat them in an appropriate, caring and professional way.

Sharene Gilchrist

Winnipeg

This inspired me to send my own LTE, although I expect monkeys to fly out of my butt before my letter gets printed. *sniffle* Nobody loves me. :(

My reasons for disagreeing with the parents actions had more to do with showing my disapproval of the war on drugs than finding the most effective way to keep kids from using drugs. I doubt that any of those kids are "drug addicts". I agree with the Senate committee that the term drug addict needs to be retired.

I didn't put this in my LTE but holy over-reaction batman! Would a kid who experimented with alcohol and cigarettes have been hauled off to the slammer by their tough-love parents? And if so, would the judge have commended them for their loving actions? I sure as hell hope not, otherwise I am going to haul my kids off to jail the next time they fail to clean their rooms. That will learn'em. The moral of the story?


Alcohol, cigarettes > marijuana