Taking a stand and speaking out

Sandy Lake youth worried drug abuse is deeply affecting his community
A Sandy Lake youth said it’s time to start taking action against prescription drug abuse.
“Before I came here I didn’t really want to do anything about it,” said Jonathan McKay, a youth from Sandy Lake who now lives in Thunder Bay and is planning to study business marketing at Confederation College this fall. “But coming here made me realize that we have to do something about it.”
McKay joined the Regional Multicultural Youth Centre as a youth worker in early July. The Thunder Bay-based organization promotes youth involvement in positive activities to foster the well-being of children and youth.
“It’s really hard to do something but you’ve got to make an effort to do something,” McKay said explaining that young and old are abusing prescription drugs. “It affects all ages.”
McKay knows the effects of prescription drug abuse first hand.
“I tried it,” he said. At first, he felt good he said, but the feeling didn’t last.
“I got really sick after I did it. I vowed from that day to never do it again.”
McKay is worried how prescription drug abuse is affecting his community, including family and friends.
“When you go back to the reserve you see a lot of changes after being away for so long and that is one of the things that I saw,” McKay said.
He said it is difficult to continue playing sports when a group of players leave midway through the game with some other people.
“You know exactly what they are doing,” McKay said. “When you have a lot of people taking off it kind of ruins the game.”
Because of the high cost associated with prescription drug abuse, (an Oxycontin 80 mg pill sells for about $320 in Sandy Lake), McKay said prescription drug abuse is deeply affecting children and families of abusers.
Sandy Lake Chief Adam Fiddler said the community continues to do whatever it can to stop prescription drug abuse.
“We continue to see the negative effects to community members, to children, to families, to extended families, to Elders,” Fiddler said. “Everybody is affected by the prescription drugs and also alcohol in the community.”
Fiddler said the community is working with local security and Nishnawbe-Aski Police Service (NAPS). Two different K-9 units were also used to prevent drugs and alcohol from coming into the community.
“The problem still exists, but we continue to do what we can to prevent the inflow of the drugs,” Fiddler said. “We have had to take drastic measures sometimes affecting people. But if they are involved with bringing in drugs and alcohol, they have to deal with the consequences.”
There has been a negative backlash about the drastic measures, but Fiddler said the band council needs the support of the community to continue taking action to prevent drugs and alcohol from coming in.
“Preventing the drugs from coming into the community is only one aspect,” Fiddler said. “No matter what you do, drugs or alcohol will always make it in, so the other important aspect is helping those people, providing support for people that want help.”
Fiddler hopes his community will work together and develop ideas to curb the problem and help people faced with addiction.
He said addiction to drugs is leading to family problems and criminal activities, such as stealing.
“We don’t have all the answers but we need to keep doing what we can as a community,” Fiddler said.
One initiative the community has tried is a land-based treatment program at the Quake Kee Aah Bwin Camp on nearby Favourable Lake last summer.
“We need to look at land-based programs, we need to look at structured programs and we need more funding,” Fiddler said. “Anything that we do locally is through existing funding, so we need to further develop that as well as something more permanent.”
NAPS continues to clamp down on the drug trade. Working with the Combined Forces Organized Crime Unit, police seized about $25,000 worth of Oxycodone tablets, hashish and marijuana and about $1,300 in cash Aug. 5 in Geraldton, Ont.
A Geraldton man was charged with possession for the purpose of trafficking a controlled substance.