Parents whose children started doing drugs during their teens and fatally overdosed as young adults say high schools that provide recovery programs could save lives.
In Vancouver, Janice Walker's son, Joe, started smoking marijuana at age 15 and was kicked out of school as his drug use progressed, landing him at an alternative education program where he met kids who were worse than him.
Walker says recovery high schools would allow students to get the support they need through professional staff providing innovative programs and peer support from others trying to recover from addiction.
Deb Bailey says her daughter, Ola, started using drugs at 14 and a recovery school would have helped her daughter with mental health supports. Ola died of a drug overdose at the age of 21.
The BC Centre on Substance Use, the Canadian Mental Health Association and the operator of the only recovery high school in the country agree traditional schools aren't helping youth who get entrenched in drug use.
However, Eileen Shewen, who founded the Quest Collegiate and Recovery Centres program in Ontario four years ago, says she is in the process of closing down the recovery high school due to lack of funding.
She says former Ontario premier Kathleen Wynne championed the school four years ago during a meeting with her but didn't provide any funding, which also isn't coming from Ontario's current government despite support while it was in opposition.