FASD is like a silent Tsunami. Do you agree with Bill C-583?
Recently, Member of Parliament Ryan Leef (Yukon,
Canada) introduced private member's Bill C-583, which seeks to amend the
Canadian Criminal Code to provide a court powers to order FASD assessments and
consider FASD as a mitigating factor in sentencing. Below is a 55 minute
interview I had with Ryan Leef, discussing Bill C-583.
- See more at: https://livingwithfasd.com/bill-c583/#sthash.z0LpFZBu.dpuf
Many of you in our Living With FASD community are aware that people with Fetal
Alcohol Spectrum Diagnosis (FASD) are over represented in the justice and
prison systems in many countries. In 1973, Anne Streissguth (University of
Washington) began a longitudinal study of 500+ people diagnosed with FASD.
About 60% of the people in her study had trouble with the law, including
confinement. A second study of youth custody centres in British Columbia,
Canada in 1999 found that 24% of the population met clinical standards for a
diagnosis on the fetal alcohol spectrum.