Pubdate: Fri, 09 Mar 2001 Source: Ottawa Sun (CN ON) Copyright: 2001, Canoe Limited Partnership Contact: 380 Hunt Club Rd., Ottawa, Ontario, K1G 5H7 Website: http://www.canoe.ca/OttawaSun/ Forum: http://www.canoe.ca/Chat/home.html Author: Lisa Lisle DRUG USE HIGH AT JAIL Inquiry Finds Inmate Died Of Accidental Overdose An official at a Burritts Rapids jail facility told a coroner's inquest that about 90% of the inmates use drugs while they're there. Taking the stand as the final witness at the inquest into Joseph Harrich's 1999 death, Rideau Corrections Centre deputy superintendent Tom McHale said that no matter how much the employees try to keep them out, the inmates find ways to get the drugs in. However, he said that about only half of that 90% are actually involved in smuggling the drugs into the institution. LETHAL MIX Harrich, who was sentenced to jail in 1999 for assault with a weapon, assault causing bodily harm, and forcible confinement, died in the early morning hours of June 4, 1999, three days after his cell at the treatment centre of the institution was searched for contraband. After two days of evidence, the five-person jury reiterated the results of the police investigation and found that Harrich died of an accidental drug overdose. They made no recommendations. RCMP forensic toxicologist Marthe Dalpe-Scott yesterday told the jury that she found evidence of anti-depressants, morphine and marijuana in Harrich's system. A nurse testified Wednesday that Harrich had been administered the anti-depressants as well as medication for migraines and sleeping pills. Dalpe-Scott said she found no evidence that the migraine medication or the sleeping pills had been ingested. Although the amount of morphine found in his system is sometimes found in some seriously ill patients who are prescribed the medication, it wasn't on the list of medications administered to Harrich. Some grey pills found in his cell also contained morphine and are often used on the street as a substitute for heroin. Dalpe-Scott also said that the amount of marijuana found in Harrich's blood and urine was very high. "It represents a chronic habitual user," she said. "It indicates someone who uses every couple of days to twice a day -- definitely not your weekend variety." Even though none of the drugs in his system alone was enough to kill Harrich, Dalpe-Scott said that the combination was enough to shut down his central nervous system and kill him. SMUGGLED INTO JAIL No one offered an explanation of how Harrich got the drugs, but McHale gave the jury some possibilities, including having someone throw them over the perimeter wall or a visitor putting them in the washroom for an inmate on cleaning duty to find. Keeping inmate rights in mind, McHale said officials at the jail do everything possible to keep drugs out. Since Harrich's death, the daily perimeter searches at the institution have been increased to twice daily. - --- MAP posted-by: Jo-D