Updated June 4, 2007

Talking about drugs
Heather Ogilvie photo
Recovering drug addicts Dave Harms, left, Brenden O’Rourke, and Roland Vandal spoke to parents and teenagers at the Couchiching Hall on Friday afternoon about durg abuse. The Winnipeg trio was brought in by the Rainy River District Substance Abuse Prevention Team and they also spoke at the Fort Frances High School and in Atikokan and Emo.

Former addicts to speak in Emo
Press release
The Rainy River District Substance Abuse Prevention Team, in conjunction with the Emo rec council and the Township of Emo, have invited three speakers to do a presentation tomorrow (May 31) at 7 p.m. at the Emo/La Vallee Community Centre.
Roland Vandal, 35, is an ex-gang member who has been sober for five years. His addictions and lifestyle took him to the point of insanity and death.
He lost everything when he bottomed out, but with the help of a couple of “12 Step” fellowships and treatment, he has transformed himself into a brand new person.
Brendon, 24, hit bottom due to crystal meth, alcohol, and drugs. He is now one year sober after multiple relapses.
And Dave, 19, has one-and-a-half years of straight sobriety. He and his girlfriend have just had a baby, and he has a job at a hospital.
All speakers regularly attend “12 Step” meetings to maintain their sobriety.
Both young speakers have had experience with relapse. And all three men acknowledge they have a living problem, feeling they needed drugs and alcohol to be comfortable with life.
Everyone is welcome to attend the presentations.
Editor’s note: The three speakers also will be making a presentation at Fort Frances High School tomorrow (May 31) at 10:35 p.m. and at the hall on Couchiching on Friday (June 1) at 2:30 p.m.

Substance abuse team outlined to Alberton council
Fort Frances Times
By Heather Ogilvie
Hugh Dennis, co-ordinator of the local Substance Abuse Prevention Team, introduced himself to members of Alberton council at its regular meeting last Wednesday night.
“Our group serves the Rainy River District and I’d like you to be aware of what we do,” Dennis explained, indicating SAPT is an initiative by the Northwestern Health Unit, but is made up of many community partners and volunteers.
He noted some of the programs the SAPT is involved with includes the “chem-free grad” at Fort Frances High School, D.A.R.E., Ontario Students Against Impaired Driving, and the Medicine Cabinet Clean-out.
In addition, a new program called Prevent Alcohol and Risk Related Trauma in Youth (P.A.R.T.Y.) will be implemented in the district this fall.
“We really believe working with young people is the key,” Dennis stressed, adding members of Fort High’s O.S.A.I.D. group travelled to an event in Toronto last week.
Dennis said the SAPT always is interested in helping out with funding for local groups and activities.
For example, they’d be willing to offer assistance to a soccer program—not for snacks or pizza, but for balls and trophies that help sustain the program and keep youth out of trouble.
He encouraged council to pass this information along to groups in Alberton.
Also at last Wednesday night’s meeting, Alberton council:
•reviewed the second draft of the 2007 budget;
•agreed to reimburse three residents under the Library Fee Reimbursement Program;
•awarded the dust suppressant tender to Northwest Road Management;
•heard from Volunteer Fire Department Chief Cory Jewell, who reported there had been no recent fires in the township;
•heard verbal reports from councillors on the NOMA conference, the Northwestern Health Unit abattoir meeting, and drainage courses, as well as other committee meetings;
•agreed to provide monetary support to the Rainy River Vet Services Committee;
•authorized to send Beth Logue to attend the MMUG conference in Portage La Prairie, Man.; and
•went in-camera to discuss personnel issues regarding CBO service and staff.
Alberton council will hold its next meeting Wednesday, June 13 at 7 p.m. at the municipal office.

A frank look into the world of drugs
Atikokan Progress
by Mike McKinnon
A drug enforcement officer and a recovering drug addict brought “the truth about drug use” to AHS students in a frank, hard-hitting presentation Friday, April 20.
Brian Brattengeier, a detective staff sergeant with the OPP and a 20-year veteran with the force, and Don Young, a former addict, enforcer and dealer - and now head of the Superior Points harm reduction program - were the messengers.
Det. Sgt Brattengeier, a unit commander with the Tri-Force Drug Unit, has spent ten years in drug enforcement, including four years undercover. (He was part of an undercover operation in Atikokan in 1992.) He also has first-hand experience with the havoc of addiction, having dealt with drug use and addiction within his family while growing up.
Young started doing drugs when he was 13, and that set off a chain that led him into addiction, dealing, homelessness, jail, extreme violence, and much more. He has brain damage as a result of about a decade of use and abuse. “I don’t have an off switch,” he said, noting that he was one of the ‘lucky ones’ - sooner or later, nearly all drug users end up dead as a result of their addiction.
“I don’t want you as my clients [at Superior Point],” he told the students. Three of his clients have died in the past few weeks, and another seven have been hospitalized.
The pair were adamant that there are no such thing as ‘soft’ drugs anymore. The marijuana “your parents knew” isn’t what is out there now. THC levels (tetrahydrocannabinol - the active ingredient in marijuana) today are far higher than they were even ten or fifteen years ago, thanks to plant breeding and large-scale grow operations. And additives like methamphetamines are often used to make marijuana more popular with users - and more potent and addictive.
That, in itself, in one of the major hazards of drug use: rarely, if ever, can you be sure of exactly what it is you might be taking.
The drug world is all about money. Addicts start dealing to support their habits, and pretty quickly lose any scruple about what they will do to feed their habit. In order to increase the profits on the drugs they sell, they add things (“step on them”) to make the volume greater. (“Hash oil? You’re lucky if all you are smoking is hash oil mixed with Vaseline or Vitamin E. If you’re not lucky, it’s hash oil mixed with used motor oil.” Crushed glass, and even low grade battery acid, are common additives to cocaine.)
They also mix drugs to increase their potency - both in the high they impart, and in their addictive power. (Brattengeier: “Cocaine costs $90 to $110 a gram in Thunder Bay. Methamphetamine [‘crystal meth’, which is far more addictive than even cocaine] costs about $3 a gram to produce.”)
Violence
Violence is an inevitable by-product of a world awash in illegal money and the need to feed an addiction.
“If you owe somebody money for drugs, get ready for violence,” Brattengeier warned.
“As a dealer, I never walked away from a debt. I couldn’t - it’s all about face,” said Young, who told a particularly horrific tale of the lengths he went to to collect. “I did a lot of stuff I am not proud of… but it was what I had to do to survive in the world I was living in.”
He also noted the link drugs have with the world of prostitution. A desperate addict will sell her or him self. Dealers know this, and take full advantage.
“I know of at least two 13-year-old prostitutes working the streets in Thunder Bay,” said Young. “I also know I could sell [just about any of] you to a Red Deer dealer for $40,000 worth of meth.”
Addiction
One of the most effective tools the pair presented were photos of drug users. Particularly telling was a series of 12 mug shots taken of a New York woman, now dead, over a seven year period. She was busted as a fresh-faced teen, and the succeeding mug shots painted a vivid picture of her descent into addiction and hopelessness. In the last, she looked like a 65-year-old, and yet was not even 25.
Others showed the ravages of injection drug use, and the impact of crystal meth on teeth - ‘meth mouth’ as its known (the caustic nature of the drug just destroys teeth). Another series showed the wasting effect drug use had on a woman (again, now dead) that Young knew. This relatively young woman had the body of a 70 or 80-year-old.
Crystal meth
Crystal meth has earned a horrible reputation - and richly deserves it.
“It is a hundred times more addictive than cocaine,” said Brattengeier. Many of the few crystal meth addicts who have survived to get clean recognize that their addiction started with their first use. That’s the power of this drug - one use can hook you.
“And the vast majority of those who use two or three times don’t think about [getting clean] again for five years,” said Brattengeier. By that time, their teeth have usually been destroyed, they’ve had to deal with police and jails, they’ve had to face drug debts and the ensuing violence….
Crystal meth is out there and available.
“It’s a totally soluble drug,” said Young. “It can be in anything.”
“And it’s here… it’s in your pot, your coke…” said Brattengeier. “You have about a 6% chance of getting off it once you are addicted. When you’re on meth, you’re done.”
The pair also offered insight into LSD (there is a particularly nasty version out now that contains strychnine), GHB, ecstasy, and Oxycontin and the related prescription meds. The session focused far more on the “unplanned consequences” of drug use - addiction and all that goes with it - than on the drugs themselves, however.
The choice
“We’ve shown you what it looks like,” Young challenged the students. “Are you willing to pay the price for your choices?”
“Open your eyes,” said Brattengeier. “Don’t do drugs. It’s up to you.”

Fort Frances Times
Heather Ogilvie

    District parents concerned about their children now can turn to family members in similar situations for assistance at a weekly support group.
    “We’re just trying to brainstorm what we can do to help,” said Charmaine Langlais, a member of the local Substance Abuse Prevention Team who has helped organize the group.
    The support group recently formed from a suggestion made at the Parents Against Illegal Narcotics (PAIN) group, which has been meeting locally for a few months.
    “I know a lot of people are concerned with rebelling kids, peer pressure, and teens staying out partying and drinking,” said one mother who has attended the support meeting.
    The difference between the two groups is that PAIN focuses on drug-related problems while the parent support group is meant to offer support and resources for family members regarding any concerns with their child.
    “And it’s not just for parents. Anyone who has concerns—siblings, grandparents, caregivers—are all welcome,” Langlais stressed.
    She said some of the following factors indicate a parent could benefit from a support group:
    •You spend sleepless nights wondering where you child is;
    •Your once happy child is now sullen and withdrawn;
    •You are tired of getting calls from the school;
    •You and your spouse argue about how to deal with the behaviour;
    •You have considered calling the police for fear of your safety;
    •You are intimidated and/or embarrassed by your child; and/or
    •You feel helpless, sad, or like a failure as a parent.
    “It’s nice for people to have the support from other parents,” Langlais said, adding several of these factors go hand-in-hand with drug use.
    The PAIN group meets monthly to identify the drug problem, as well as to discuss ways to stop it and help those affected by it.
    “It’s time for the community to stand up and say we’re going to do something about it together,” Langlais remarked.
    The group draws from resources in the community, such as lawyers, pharmacists, doctors, police officers, and other community workers to share their expertise about the rising problem.
    “I learned more about Oxycontins [with the group] than I would have on my own,” said one mother. “It’s been very helpful.”
    Cst. Armand Jourdain of the Treaty #3 Police stressed the use of Oxycontins is on a rise in the area.
    The PAIN group has had three meetings so far, with the next one slated for Monday, May 7 at 7 p.m. at the Couchiching Multi-Purpose Building.
    Meanwhile, the parent support group meets every Wednesday at 7 p.m. at 714 Armit Ave. here.
    “It’s a big step to come and say something is wrong,” Langlais conceded. “But for people in a crisis situation, it’s good to have the support of someone going through the same thing.
    “And maybe you’ll be able to help someone, too.”
    For more information about either group, contact Langlais at 274-1386.

Updated April 26, 2007

Quit pretending
Fort Frances Times
Mike Behan

“I take the pill and scrape the coating off, place it down on the plate and crush it, make it smooth with the card, and anxiously make it into a line, I pick up the dirty bill, and roll it up, put it to my nose, and sniff there it goes.
“My pain, worries, and cares all disappear, just like that, all into my nose. I’m flying high, never felt better.”
For those naive enough to think Rainy River District somehow is immune to the scourge of drug abuse, the above passage was written by 17-year-old Tara Tovey, a Fort Frances girl who has just finished rehab for an addiction to Oxycontin.
That’s right—a Fort Frances teen.
It’s certainly not surprising to local addictions counsellors, who revealed at a conference here back in November that abuse of prescription drugs, including Percocet and Percodan, is a real problem in our area. But their plea to open a methadone clinic here to help addicts kick the habit has fallen on deaf ears so far.
Clearly there’s no more time to waste.
The local OPP and Substance Abuse Prevention Team deserve kudos for their efforts to bring home the dangers of drug and alcohol abuse to our children, whether through the D.A.R.E. program or guest speakers like Don Young—a former drug user and dealer who addressed Grade 7/8 students in Mine Centre, Atikokan, and at J.W. Walker School here on Friday.
It’s a tough job given the fine line between warning students about the consequences of their choices and lecturing them on the evils of drugs and alcohol. After all, tell a kid not to do something and that’s the first thing they’ll probably try to do.
That’s where young Tara hopes to help with her story:
“My eyes are heavy, my pupils are pinpricks, all I feel is nothing, just high. This feeling is no longer a want, it’s a hard-core depressing painful need, so evil it’ll take your soul, so quickly.
“I look in the mirror, at what I’ve become, my hopes, my dreams all gone. How did this happen, I was on top of the world, I thought I had it all. I thought wrong.
“Somebody, please, help me. . . .”
Still want to pretend we don’t have a drug problem here?

Students learn realities of drug abuse
Fort Frances Times
By Heather Ogilvie

    There’s nothing like learning from someone who’s “been there” and “done that.”
    Grade 7/8 students in Mine Centre, Atikokan, and from J. W. Walker School here heard from two men on Friday—including one who used to be a drug user and a drug dealer.
    Don Young, program manager with Superior Points Harm Production program in Thunder Bay, reflected on some of the lower points of his life in order to show the students the harm drugs cause.
    “I’ve been in jail, lived in an abandoned truck, and have attempted suicide,” recalled the pierced and tattooed man, adding he also has some brain and nerve damage because of his past lifestyle.
    “I don’t want to frighten or alarm you, but to tell you the truth,” Young stressed.
    Brian Brattengeier, with the Thunder Bay OPP Tri-force Unit, also offered his thoughts to the students.
    “We’re here to be honest with you and talk openly about a problem we see in your community,” Brattengeier remarked, noting he wants to get the information out there so students make the right choices.
    The pair began their presentation by asking the students what a drug is—any substance that alters the mind or body state.
    Therefore, they explained, chocolate and coffee are both considered drugs.
    “You feel better when you eat chocolate . . . and your parents probably get cranky if they don’t have their coffee, right?” Young remarked.
    Then they asked the students a series of questions and had the youngsters respond by raising their hands.
    “How many of you have seen someone your age smoke?” Brattengeier asked and the majority of hands shot up in the air.
    They continued by asking if they have seen someone their age take pills, drink alcohol, smoke pot, eat “magic” mushrooms, take acid, or take drugs with a needle.
    At least one hand went up in response to every question.
    “You’re not unlike any other group in the province,” Brattengeier indicated, noting his brother was a cocaine addict at 12 years of age.
    Young said he made the choice to start taking drugs at 13.
    “You have to make choices that will impact the rest of your life,” he noted. “When I started taking drugs, I gave up my choices and options.”
    He described how, as a drug dealer, he would target students in their early to mid-teens in order to get hem hooked and make money.
    “We would give them free dope—we called it investing,” he explained. “You thought I was your friend, but really you were my victim. You were just money to us.”
    The pair stressed they don’t want kids taking drugs, but added they will have a choice to make.
    The students were showed pictures of how people looked just years after using drugs, as well as told them of the many risks and dangers.
    They noted the most addictive drug is nicotine, as well as adding that drugs are a problem in Rainy River District.
    “Peer pressure is a big challenge you face,” Young said. “But I now have enough respect and dignity to not take anyone’s [b.s.] Don’t buy into the peer pressure—be the best you can be.”
    He explained some kids think if they start drugs, they can just get help later by going into treatment.
    “After one year of treatment, only 30 percent are clean,” he warned. “Treatment doesn’t rescue everyone.”
    Young also stressed it’s important to start looking after each other in society.
    “Because if we don’t, who will?” he asked. “You are the generation that can do so much change.”
    Brattengeier questioned the students as to whether they thought Young would have made the choice to start taking drugs if he knew the consequences.
    They all said “no.”
    “We always hope we get the message across,” he said following the presentation at Walker. “It’s their choice, but we want them to make informed decisions and know what they are doing. . . .
    “If we just stood up here and said ‘Don’t do drugs,’ I don’t think it would be as effective.”
    Hugh Dennis, co-ordinator of the Rainy River District Substance Abuse Prevention Team, which brought in the speakers, said he feels drugs are a very important issue to address.
    “It’s scary to see kids of that age raising their hands to those questions,” he said, adding he saw Brattengeier and Young speak at the Mayor’s Summit on Drug Abuse in Dryden a few months ago.
    “I thought they’d be able to get the message out throughout the district,” Dennis said.

New man in charge

By Ken Johnston
Rainy River Record
Editor

There is a new but familiar face at the RR District Substance Abuse Prevention Team (SAPT). Many people know Hugh Dennis as the now retired Staff Sgt. of the RR District O.P.P. detachment. Well now he has switched gears and is the new coordinator for SAPT. “This is a labour of love for me. If it wasn’t for the subject matter (preventing alcohol and drug abuse) I probably would not have considered taking the job,” said Dennis last week. Dennis has been busy travelling the district meeting with groups like the Healthy Communities Coalition in Rainy River and student council at Rainy River High School. SAPT has a funding pool that Dennis is helping groups access. “Things like chem free grad and the upcoming RRHS camping trip to Moose Lake are perfect for us to be a part of.” Dennis serves as coordinator for the SAPT under a board of directors. On the board there are 14 partners working together to help prevent substance abuse. “We really reach out to a lot of parts of the community through all these groups,” said Dennis. SAPT also promotes healthy living. In addition to helping fund events Dennis said he is hoping to bring some motivational speakers into the area schools. They also are willing to work with seniors groups to talk about proper ways to dispose of outdated prescription drugs or substance abuse in the elderly. Another program he is working on is a Role Model of the week or month feature. “I hope to take high school kids that are good role models for younger kids and feature them in community media,” said Dennis. Dennis brings a long list of connections to the job at SAPT. In addition to his 34 years on the O.P.P. he is also the coordinator for the RR Valley Safety Coalition, was there when DARE programs began in the region, and he is very familiar with all the communities and their leaders across the district. Any group wishing to have Dennis come and speak to them about substance abuse prevention can call him at 274-9827 or log onto their website at www.preventingtragedy.org