Pubdate: Sun, 27 Aug 2006
Source: Montreal Gazette (CN QU)
Copyright: 2006 The Gazette, a division of Southam Inc.
Contact:  http://www.canada.com/montreal/montrealgazette/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/274
Author: Kate Shingler, Freelance
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?232 (Chronic Pain)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/coke.htm (Cocaine)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/heroin.htm (Heroin)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/oxycontin.htm (Oxycontin/Oxycodone)

RESIDENTS RALLY BEHIND ANTI-DRUG VIGILANTES

Crack House Torched On New Brunswick Island

It was a spontaneous act of vigilante justice, but many residents of this 
tiny island say it was a long time coming.

It has been five weeks since

a suspected crack house was burned to the ground by a mob that three RCMP 
officers were unable to control. Now, five men charged in the incident have 
been released on bail, and residents have started a red-ribbon campaign to 
show their support.

They're tying the markers to their homes and cars, and posting signs with 
slogans like "Free Our Boys" in convenience stores and on lampposts. Even 
the mayor has a red ribbon.

"I sport one on my own car, it shows that we are thinking of these people," 
said Grand Manan Mayor Dennis Greene of the ribbons that now litter the island.

"We are normally law abiding citizens, I guess it showed our frustrations," 
he said, adding that while Grand Mananers don't condone breaking the law, 
they are relieved with the outcome. "People are happy with the end result - 
one less crack house on the island."

Drug addiction has plagued the fishing community of 2,600 for years.

When crack cocaine and prescription painkillers, such as Dilaudid and 
OxyContin, became mainstream on the island, residents' frustration reached 
a boiling point. The pills, sometimes referred to as "hillbilly heroin," 
are often prescribed to cancer patients and are considered the strongest 
painkillers available on the market. The street price of a pill ranges from 
$20 to $45.

Senior citizens sell leftovers from their prescriptions, according to Kelly 
Wilson of the local John Howard Society chapter.

"Seniors and people on a fixed income are selling what they don't need of 
the drug," she says, calling OxyContin and Dilaudid powerful and highly 
addictive.

Last month's riot started when a group of men, mostly fishermen, confronted 
the alleged drug dealer and demanded he and his associates leave the island.

Both sides are reported to have fired gunshots, and the street brawl lasted 
until dawn. One resident, who will face charges of obstructing a federal 
highway in the Grand Manan courthouse in October, reportedly used her 
vehicle to block off the street, preventing firefighters from putting out 
the blaze.

Three of the island's four full-time RCMP officers were on duty early on 
the morning of July 22, but were powerless to control the mob. RCMP Cpl. 
Kevin Jackson admitted the situation got so out of control that "our 
responding officers had minimal effect on civil disobedience."

To date, five men have been charged in connection with the incident. Carter 
Foster, 24, Matthew Lambert, 27, Michael Small, 26, Gregory Guthrie, 26, 
and Lloyd Bainbridge, 31, were held in custody for several weeks before 
being released on bail last Friday.

Foster is charged with unlawful storage of firearms and dangerous use of a 
weapon. Bainbridge and Small are charged with arson, and Small is also 
charged with dangerous use of a weapon. Lambert is charged with dangerous 
use of a rifle and flare gun. Guthrie is charged with dangerous use of a 
firearm.

Ronald Ross, the man whose house was burned down, is charged with dangerous 
use of a firearm.

He was released from custody Monday on the condition he stay off Grand 
Manan and have no contact with any of the island's residents.

Support for the five suspects reached a fever pitch after the RCMP brought 
more than 70 police officers to the island in the weeks following the riot.

The massive show of police force was in response to rumours of a second 
riot outside the home of another alleged drug dealer on the island. 
According to Jackson, police received a threat of "unknown reliability that 
there was a planned unlawful assembly to go ahead (on Aug. 1)."

There was no second riot, though small groups of residents gathered outside 
several convenience stores on the island that night.

In the wake of the arrests a fund was established to help with the legal 
expenses of the men charged. More than $20,000 has been raised to date.

"There is a lot of support," said Grand Manan resident Sharon Greenlaw, 
spokesperson for the Grand Manan Concerned Citizens Legal Defence Fund. 
"We're definitely behind them."

Greenlaw says the fund has received calls from across the Maritimes, and 
from the United States, asking about where to donate money. People in other 
communities in mainland New Brunswick also approached her about donning red 
ribbons in a gesture of solidarity.

"People in West Saint John and St. Stephen are ready to put up red ribbons, 
there is a lot of support from all over," she said. "It's not just a Grand 
Manan problem, it's a rural problem."

But not everyone on the island supports the vigilantes. Community Programs 
Coordinator Karey Ingalls works with youth to prevent drug use. She says 
celebrating the men charged in connection with the riot isn't constructive.

"They are not even looking at the big picture, that their children have 
broken the law," she said of the local support for the five young men 
charged in connection with the riot. "There has to be some sort of 
ownership to the (drug) problem here, and stop blaming other people."

Ingalls would like to see a family resource centre built where residents 
could take effective parenting courses, and islanders educated about 
substance abuse prevention.

The attorney for the five accused residents is also hoping the public 
demonstrations of support will die down.

"This is something which belongs in the courts and not on the streets," 
said David Lutz, who asked that supporters refrain from attending last 
Friday's bail hearing in St. Stephen.

"I requested that the only people that came from the island were potential 
witnesses in the bail hearing," he said.

In all, only about a dozen women from Grand Manan made the 21/2 hour trip 
to the courthouse. In the end, none of the women, mostly family members, 
was asked to testify.

The five men will be back in court Oct. 2, when a date will be set for the 
trial. 
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