VIC:Hair test will show up drug exposure to kid

AAP General News (Australia)
12-12-2011
VIC:Hair test will show up drug exposure to kid

MELBOURNE, Dec 12 AAP - Victorian police say they are sick of finding children being
exposed to toxic chemicals in backyard drug labs and will test their hair in order to
crack down on their parents.

Investigators have told the Herald Sun that children's lives are being put at risk
by living near poisonous and potentially explosive secret drug laboratories.

They say if a hair test shows a child has been been exposed to dangerous chemicals,
police are determined to prosecute the parents.

The paper says that although police don't have the right to take a hair sample from
a child without a parent or guardian's consent, an order might be granted if a child were
placed in the custody of the Department of Human Services.

Senior Sergeant Mark Burnett, a detective in the clandestine laboratory squad, says
hair sampling could reveal the length and degree of chemical exposure.

"We'll be drilling down on whether the kids were exposed," he said.

"Investigators are sick of finding children exposed to the dangerous chemicals and
volatile atmospheres."

The police clandestine laboratory squad has closed down 74 drug factories in Victoria this year.

AAP jxt/apm

KEYWORD: HAIR

� 2011 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.