Dad writes open letter about teen drug overdoses in Kanata
Below is the full text of his message:
To all whom are concerned,
...
The point of this letter is not to discuss my family’s problems and/or the problem in general. Most of us know there is a problem. We have spent thousands upon thousands of dollars on psychologists, counsellors etc. etc. Our daughter has spent 10 weeks at the Dave Smith Youth Treatment Centre.
...
My goal is not to try and solve the drug problem. It has been going on for many decades but never before right now have the drugs been indiscriminately taking our children’s lives. I do not know how many families are suffering the same fate as us right now but I know there are many.
The first thing I would like to do is have a meeting with as many parents of addicts/abusers as I can find. We have all experienced the futility of dealing with this scourge on our own. We the parents of these kids and future kids need to unite for ourselves and for our kids.
...
The days of the saying “They need to hit rock bottom before getting better” are over. Sadly in most cases today rock bottom is a slab at the morgue.