IF you suspect your teenagers are using the drug ice would you hire a sniffer dog to search their bedrooms?
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The owner of the Sydney-based dog drug detection business, K9 Detection Services, Jeff Kennedy, thinks you will.
Mr Kennedy said parents needed to be more proactive about detecting their children’s drug use as the ice epidemic sweeps the nation.
Mr Kennedy, a former Orange resident, plans to visit Orange with one of four specially-trained drug-detecting English springer spaniels in the next two months.
“You can’t afford to sit back and hope it won’t happen to your child or family member,” Mr Kennedy said.
Mr Kennedy said he had worked with drug detection dogs for the past 15 years and is well placed to offer the service having undertaken the Corrective Services K9 handlers’ course and the Australian Customs narcotic detector dog handlers’ course.
“I’ve done numerous jobs for NSW Police in the execution of search warrants and I’ve trained numerous K9s, which have been sold to government agencies for drug detection work,” he said.
“When it comes to ice the police are focusing on country towns more than major cities. I guess there’s not as much for people to do there and it’s a cheap and easy to get.
“Heroin has always had a reputation as being bad but methamphetamines make people violent.”
Mr Kennedy said he’d seen firsthand the devastating impact ice could have on people.
“It doesn’t take long for it to affect people,” he said.
“It’s not a drug you use once, once you’ve tried it it’s got you.”
As the parent of teenagers, Mr Kennedy said he knew how much parents worried about their children’s exposure to drugs.
“I’ve even sent one of the dogs through their rooms,” he said.
“It’s about giving parents peace of mind.”
If drugs are detected in a search, Mr Kennedy said it was up to parents to decide what to do.
“When it happens we’ll be there to point them in the right direction, but what a parent does is up to them,” he said.
“We’ll also recommend early intervention with drug and alcohol counselling.”