Toddler dies after taking parents methadone.

[ianess]

A two-year-old boy who was found dead in his bed by his mother had the heroin substitute methadone in his system, it has been confirmed.
How in the name of God Almighty did these parents come to have methadone at home?
I always thought that it was given direct at a chemist's in a private booth after tests were taken to ensure that no other drugs were being "topped up".

If that isn't the case WHY NOT?

Surely some plain common sense could have prevented this situation from occuring, AND why was this child allowed to stay in such an obviously dangerous enviroment?

[NORMANTHEDOG]

Again it seems we have a pair of parents who couldent give a dam about anything,except their habit.they should be charged with manslaughter and put away for life.

[undercovers]

yes it is tragic - methadone is given to people to help wean them off heroin, usually in the form of a liquid these days i believe which they do indeed take home with them - getting each individual dose from the chemists would be unworkable as there are so may people that chemists would be doing little else, and as chemists are not open 24 hour they cannot provide treatment at all the times people "need" it.

clearly this is tragic but the same result could occur from any mecidation kept in the home - people need to show more sense in storage of medicines and posions in the home.

[ll_billym]

I don't know the specifics of this story so I cannot comment on this one specifically but....

Believe it or not, some heroin addicts can lead pretty normal lives, go to work every day, look after children etc. Yeah, I know this is a small minority but the fact that someone is a heroin addict shouldn't mean that they automatically get their children put into care, if they are constantly being arrested for theft, prostitution, etc. then go ahead and take them.

This story is very unfortunate.

[noxlumos]

Very very sad and my heart goes out to the little boy and his parents.Normanthedog, if all they cared about was their own habit, he'd have died of a heroin overdoese, not a methadone overdose as they were clearly trying to kick their addiction and Il_bllym is right, there are many people, some of them professionals, that manage to keep a very firm grip on their lives even with a heroin addiction. This little lads parents will have this on their conscience forever and depending on the circumstances I don't think criminal charges are necessarily appropriate.

[kick3m0n]

their other chidlren have been taken from them and put into care, which might suggest some sort of on-going childcare issues. They live in a tiny rural village only 3 miles from here. Both of the wee boy's parents are registered drug addicts, hence the methadone, and I can confirm that neither were professional, both are unemployed and living on benefits. However, locals say that the children were very much loved and generally well looked after, despite the parents drug dependancies, and indeed, the mum in particular was very very keen to overcome her drug habit, hence the methadone etc. The whole family are utterly devastated by the wee boys death (he was buried mid January this year.

[Goodsoulette]

I think it is all round a safer option that care for children of a known addict either has to be heavily supervised or the responsibility given to someone else, until that addict has been clear for say a year or so.

There are plenty of other risks to being cared for by heroin addicts. Take the 3 year old found in a flat with his dead mother. She had died two weeks previously, and he had been living off of crisps and juice. Thank goodness he was found in time.

[Drisgirl]

In our town methadone is given in a side room by the pharmacist.In a way its degrading for them as people know they are junkies - and they have probably done to harm to anyone but themselves and their family.To counter what I have just said - there is no option as junkies sell methadone so they cant have it in their house to self prescribe.

If the parents were genuinely trying to come off - good on them but in saying that there shouldnt have been methadone in their house with a child there.

I am an agnostic - but some sayings make sense.

Let those who are without sin cast the first stone.I dont think any of us are in a position to condemn the parents.

[metagirl]

very sad - I hope there is an investigation as the adults should not have been allowed to take the methadone out of a safe and secure place. Very suspicious.

[stoo_pid]

sorry, just because someone is using methadone doesn't mean they intend to stop using it.

My 3-year old nephew was so very nearly a tragic newspaper headline like this. His mother (my sister) was an addict, took methadone, and openly had no intention whatsoever of coming off it. She used it as a free top-up when she couldn't get any of the real stuff - the same as all her friends

She too loved her children tremendously but that love was not enough for her to keep the pills, methadone & alcohol out of her boys' reach, let alone beat her addiction. Had anything happened to her children she would have been devastated but that doesn't mean she was in a fit state to care for them.

Child abuse or child neglect? Sometimes there's very little difference.

[lynbrown]

I would gladly die for any of my kids, i would step in front of a bus to save them, thats what mother love really is. Any parent who carries on with an addiction that involves spending lots of money on themself every day, rather than on the home and family, does not really love their kids. She/He is putting themselves and their needs before those of the child.

[Fish Kid]

Scum...sub human scum. There is a bloody good case for enforced sterilisation to certain sections of society in the UK.

PC Brigade may object, but UK society is on a downward spiral, and it gets worse as the scum-effect is passed on to each new generation.