A Parent's story - When Your Child Is Addicted And There Is No Help

A multiple part series brought to you by COAP

Our system is broken. We will delve into this with a series showing parents begging for help from the ‘powers that be'. Parents beg for their kids to be arrested, or forced into detox, while they are met with ZERO help from the authorities. People think kids must come from bad homes, or negligent parents to end up in this drug world, and that is not the case.

BC does not put priorities on youth. They constantly reassure kids they have “ rights” and offer them prescriptions - for instance like a ‘safe’ cocaine script at the discount pharmacy here in Duncan. Or Island Health resources that educate kids on ‘safe usage’ when you take your child to them for help. There is no stigma or provincial programs that council kids on how wrong drug usage is, and how horrible the usage is for their mental and physical health . Get them young?

In this series we will show how kids realize their rights, and feel empowered in the system to steal, break into places, steal vehicles and more.

We have written about this at length many times like here : which begins with: “It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men. — Frederick Douglass

“Healthy emotional and social development in our early years lays the foundation for mental health and resilience throughout the lifespan. Yet, 70 percent of persons living with a mental illness see their symptoms begin before age 18. Mental illness affects some 1.2 million of our children and youth. By age 25, that number rises to 7.5 million (about one in five Canadians).” — Mental Health Commission of Canada

And here where we supported a private members bill which the Provincial NDP did not support. This Bill gave parents back their rights over forced rehab and detox. “The resources available for addicted youth are far from adequate. The prospect of waiting months for youth recovery beds is distressing, contributing to a growing number of young people being ensnared in the cycle of addiction. Compounding the issue is the Infants Act in BC, which stipulates that there is no age limit for a child to manage their health choices. Consequently, parents and guardians find themselves isolated and powerless when attempting to intervene in their children’s crises.

While children are restricted from so many other activities and decisions due to the incomplete development of their frontal lobes, the Infants Act paradoxically allows them to refuse therapy, detox, rehab, and counselling services. This leaves parents feeling helpless, scared, and desperate.”

Read the full article here

In this gripping podcast series, we hope to shed light on the private struggle so many parents go through in private. The hell addiction brings into their families can never be felt, except by those who have experienced the sleepless nights, the money lost, the desperate cries for help from the province, and the realization there is no real help. In part 1, we hear from a mother who shares her heartbreaking journey as she fights for help for her addicted minor child in British Columbia. From police inaction to legal roadblocks and months-long wait times for youth rehab, she exposes the gaps in the system that leave families feeling helpless. Through raw and emotional storytelling, this series sheds light on the urgent need for reform and real support for struggling youth and their families.

Please watch and share and send anyone our way who would like to speak. We can blur faces if needed. contact@coap.ca