Pubdate: Tue, 20 Mar 2001
Source: Calgary Herald (CN AB)
Copyright: 2001 Calgary Herald
Contact:  P.O. Box 2400, Stn. M, Calgary, Alberta T2P 0W8
Fax: (403) 235-7379
Feedback: http://www.calgaryherald.com/services/feedback.html
Website: http://www.calgaryherald.com/
Forum: http://forums.canada.com/~calgary
Author: Emma Poole

SYRINGE SUSPECT BAFFLES HOSPITAL STAFF

A syringe-toting man was allegedly tapping into his baby nephew's 
intravenous drip to syphon morphine for his own use, say Calgary police 
officers.

Police have charged the 20-year-old man under a seldom-used section of the 
Criminal Code. The man, who cannot be named to protect the identity of the 
child, is charged with mischief causing danger to life.

Police said the man was spotted next to his nephew's bedside Sunday 
afternoon at Alberta Children's Hospital's palliative care unit. He was 
holding a syringe filled with a clear liquid.

When confronted by a staff member, the man ran out of the room. He was 
later arrested by police and taken for a psychiatric exam at Peter Lougheed 
Centre.

"It appears at this time that he was attempting to withdraw morphine from 
the intravenous for his own use," said Staff Sgt. Dean Stobo.

"This (type of incident) is certainly new to me."

The alleged incident has stunned police across the country.

Vancouver police Const. Anne Drennan said she's not familiar with a 
situation where someone is accused of stealing drugs from a hospital 
patient's intravenous line.

"I've never heard of anything like it," said Drennan, whose fellow officers 
patrol Canada's most infamous drug-infested neighbourhood of East Hastings 
in downtown Vancouver.

Even local drug addiction counsellors are baffled at the lengths the man 
went through to allegedly obtain the morphine -- a heroin derivative.

Nancy Snowball, spokeswoman for Alberta Alcohol and Drug Abuse Commission, 
said she can't remember a time when counsellors treated someone for 
intravenous morphine addiction.

"It's definitely not one of the top (drugs) that we've found," she said. 
"Morphine is a pain killer so it would be used as a downer, something 
comparable to heroin."

Drug cops say trafficking of liquid morphine is unusual on Calgary streets, 
although the pill version of the drug -- called "greys" because of their 
colour -- are sold for about $2 each.

Staff Sgt. Paul Laventure, commander of Calgary's police drug unit, said 
the pills are often obtained through a doctor's prescription and then sold 
on the street to addicts.

Calgary Regional Health Authority spokesman Don Campbell said there are no 
plans to upgrade security because of the incident. He said the man had a 
right to be visiting the infant and there haven't been any similar 
incidents to warrant the changes.

"He was a close family member. We basically provide opportunities for 
family members to visit patients in our hospitals and we are not going to 
introduce procedures where we are thoroughly checking people before they 
enter the hospital at this point," said Campbell. "We want to provide 
opportunities for loved ones to visit patients."

Hospital officials are crediting police with quickly getting the situation 
under control.

"This has our entire hospital staff collectively shaking their heads in 
disbelief," said Campbell. "It's just a very odd situation."

Stobo said investigators looked into the possibility the man was injecting 
fluids into the intravenous tube, but it became apparent he was allegedly 
taking the drugs for his own addiction. The man is charged with mischief 
causing danger to life, a charge rarely laid.

"It's a somewhat obscure section (of the law)," said Stobo.

The syringe has been sent to the crime lab in Edmonton for testing.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Beth