A full-scale search of a south-side Thunder Bay home by police and hazardous materials specialists has turned up nothing that appears to make it an illegal drug lab. But the investigation is continuing and police aren't ready to say the Prince Arthur Boulevard home isn't a hazard. "The actual final conclusion won't be known for some time," Thunder Bay Police spokesman Chris Adams said Thursday. "It's probably safe to say the danger level has dropped quite a bit." [continues 614 words]
A Chinese national who used his life's savings to illegally enter Canada and was working to pay that debt has been convicted of two serious drug offences. But those convictions are just the beginning of bigger problems for Wenjie Fan, his lawyer said after Monday's court appearance. Fan, 45, still owes a large amount of money to the wide-ranging criminal gang known as the "snakeheads." He also faces deportation back to his homeland, and a date with a harsh justice system. [continues 439 words]
The growing misuse of painkilling drugs such as morphine, oxycodone and fentanyl is part of a larger social problem, a doctor told a workshop on opioid dependency. "I don't think the drug necessarily is the problem. Society is part of the problem," Dr. Frank Denson said during a panel discussion at Thunder Bay's DaVinci Centre. In his opening remarks to an audience of local health and social workers, Denson said the rise in the abuse of certain drugs is part of a bigger issue. Denson, who works with the Lakeview Clinic methadone maintenance program and has done research on the history of opiates, said more information is needed about the at-risk population. Often, he said, drug addiction is linked to poverty or homelessness. Those circumstances need to change if the problem is to be properly addressed. [continues 431 words]
The number of regional deaths related to the powerful painkilling drug oxycodone have doubled in the last year, says the regional supervising coroner for the Northwest. "There have been some deaths," Dr. David Legge confirmed in a recent interview. So far, he has recorded 11 deaths where oxycodone has been found in the system of the deceased. That number may rise because toxicology results are still due in some cases dating to 2004. That compares to five the previous year. "It's a great concern in this area," Legge said. [continues 189 words]
The misuse of OxyContin and the toll it's taking on people's lives come as no surprise to Tannice Fletcher-Stackhouse. "No, not at all," she acknowledged in an interview, "because we get phone calls every day from people seeking treatment for their opiate addiction." As well as being a nurse, Fletcher-Stackhouse is also team leader of Lakeview Clinic, an outpatient methadone program run out of the Lakehead Psychiatric Hospital on Thunder Bay's north side. The service, provided by St. Joesph's Care Group and funded by the Ministry of Health, is overseen by two full-time and one part-time case managers and a part-time secretary. [continues 302 words]
One Sunday night in late October, Laurie Miller got a phone call from her son in Thunder Bay. She knew something was wrong. While they had talked regularly for the past year, Ben hadn't called much lately. "I knew something was funny with him," she recalled of what kept running through her mind. After an hour of catching up on things, it was getting late and she was ready to hang up. That's when he finally poured out his troubles. [continues 1203 words]
A Court of Appeal ruling overturning a drug conviction reinforces the need for police officers to make sure they have reasonable grounds for detaining suspects and initiating a search, a local lawyer says. "I think it's a significant (ruling) for this area in particular, because there have been a number of searches recently involving drugs," David Bruzzese said in an interview. "But all it does is reconfirm the existing standard." The decision, released Monday, is a "very good preliminary guide," added Ron Poirier, who prosecutes drug cases in the region for the federal government. [continues 491 words]
A sweep by tri-force drug unit officers that nabbed 50 people at the recent CLE fair is a surprise to Marlene Busniuk. But the woman who heads the organizing committee promises the drug issue will be addressed. "I am very (surprised)," Busniuk said when informed yesterday of the seizures and charges. "I never heard a thing about it. "We know we had a few problems with kids gathering, and we handled that quite nicely. But I never heard a thing about the (drug) charges," she said. [continues 385 words]
Stringent enforcement has given Thunder Bay the distinction of leading the way in laying drug charges. But that underscores the need to do more to deal with the drug issue, the city's police chief says. "You need to take (the stats) seriously, but enforcement is not going to solve the problem," Chief Bob Herman said in an interview yesterday. "I think the government has a responsibility to put more money into education and treatment programs. You need to help break the cycle for people. If they're in an endless cycle of drug addiction and there's nothing available to get off of it, it just perpetuates itself." [continues 377 words]
Two Thunder Bay provincial police officers have been cleared of discreditable conduct charges laid in connection with a drug raid at a South Gillies property nearly four years ago that turned up nothing. At a Police Services Act hearing yesterday, detective constables Randall Belluz and Mark Monker were found not guilty by adjudicator Terence Kelly. The officers were charged June 26, 2001 following complaints of an unlawful search by Andy Agarand, who owns the 70-acre property where tri-force drug unit officers attended on Dec. 21, 1999 with a search warrant. [continues 560 words]
