Deadly drink claims six

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Death - the result of a drinking party March 10 in the isolated northern community of Peerless Lake. Five people are dead, one is clinging to life, and two seem to be recovering after drinking photocopier fluid containing lethal methyl hydrate.

Dr. E. G. King, director of the University Hospital's general systems intensive care unit, said that doctors could not predict what shape any survivors might be in if they recovered. "Only time will tell about the quality of their recovery," he said.

The effects of methyl hydrate are devastating. Consumption of as little as 10 millilitres of methyl hydrate could cause blindness or serious illnesses, King said. He would like to see the public better educated in the effects of toxicant abuse.

Dead are Patricia Houle, 16, Hubert Belam, 34, Eliza Netawastenum, 30, and

her brothers Raymond and William Netawastenum.

A door-to-door search in the community on Tuesday evening found five more males who said they drank the fluid, Sgt. Wayne Gesy, RCMP spokesperson at the

K-Division in Edmonton, said. The five males were flown to Slave Lake Hospital for treatment and are expected to be released in a day or two.

The deaths have the community of 300 in a state of shock. "Everyone here is related. In a settlement like this, the people are really close-knit. Everyone feels the loss," said John Piche.

Area residents see drinking as the biggest problem in the community. According to the 1977 Health and Welfare Statistics, the rage of poisoning and overdose deaths among Native people to be five times the national average and the Native suicide rate as being three times the national average. It also states that Indian people in Canada are more than three times as likely as non-Natives to die an accidental death. More than one third of all Native deaths are caused from violence, accidents and poisoning.

With death statistics such as these, it is no wonder the Native communities see alcohol as the biggest problem. Experts in the field of drug and alcohol abuse see this as

a worldwide problem. Doctors report growing numbers of sudden deaths among children on cheap solvent highs.

With reports of solvent abuse being a worldwide problem that particularly affects Aboriginal people cut adrift by cultural change, the most susceptible are young Native boys, says Dr. Luis Fomazzani, a neurologist with the Ontario Addiction Research Foundation.

He sees the extreme poverty and deprivation that these children are submitted to

as the underground of the problem. "If they don't have jobs or possibility of jobs, they don't have any other thing to do and they go for the available cheap way of evading reality.

"People should know the effects of solvent abuse are serious. This is something children should know.

"Solvent abuse is widespread, particularly in the remote areas where there is less access to alcohol," confirms Richard Jock of Health and Welfare Canada.

"We've gone beyond just saying there is a problem. In Canada we can say it's critical," says Dianne Moir, Nechi Institute consultant.

"Solvent abuse is not alcohol - an addiction that fan last for years. Solvent abuse usually short term, because of its tragic effects. Three years is usually the limit.

"It doesn't just numb the brain cells, it eats them," she said.

"Solvent abuse in the non-Native community is often covered over in statistics, with solvent-related deaths classified as either heart failure or suicide." She is surprised

at how little is done on solvent abuse in Canada, compared to the United States.

Moir drafted a program to address solvent abuse in public schools, entitled "Who Cares?" The program has been field tested in Edmonton schools and the curriculum is available to all Native communities, she said.

"Resources in terms of counselling are sometimes not available to the people in isolated communities, Nechi director Maggie Hodgson says.

Hodgson sees lack of recreational facilities in isolated communities as ne small element in solvent cases. "There's the stress the young people have to deal with. If there is alcohol and drug abuse among the youth, the parents are generally involved with alcohol and drugs," she stated.

The tragedy which left five dead should lead to a more active social service involvement in isolated communities according to Alice Taylor, Director of Peekiskwetan (Let's talk society).

"They have to provide education about the danger of those kinds of problems. There just aren't enough people covering the areas," she said.

Sam Sinclair, president of the Metis Association, attributes the tragedy of Peerless Lake as a result of massive unemployment, saying "there are lots of communities like Peerless Lake, ready to explode."

He feels if some of the funding could be directed straight to the community level, and having the community become part of the decision-making, would be a step in helping solve the problem. No one else but the community knows exactly what is needed in order to keep up to the changing times, as well as being able to continue in the traditional ways that are still there, he said.

Lack of sport facilities in the isolated areas contributes to the problem he said. When there are sports facilities, lack of funds available to allow the youth to be able to compete with communities other than their own is also a problem. "Our children need

this choice of competition," he said.

"I share the suffering of the people in Peerless Lake," Premier Don Getty told reporters. "Now isn't the time to place blame. Anything we can do to stop this from happening again, we will do," he said.

"Self-help is the key to beating the drug and alcohol problem," Milt Pahl, Native Affairs Minister, said at a press conference. He says he is requesting a full briefing on the poisoning.

"For a number of years there was an anti-alcohol mood in the community until three years ago, then it turned," said MLA for the area, Larry Shaben calling the deaths

a terrible ragedy.

In the meantime, community leaders are blaming the government for ignoring the problems at Peerless Lake. "People here don't have the services. The government is a lot of lip service, but they don't do anything," says John Piche, counsellor with Opportunity Corps.

"It took the deaths of five young people to bring people's attention to the problems we have here," said David Starr, spokesperson.

The chemical that killed five people was used for photocopying, and was stolen from the Community Vocation Centre at Slave Lake sometime on Monday night, reported RCMP Sgt. Wayne Gesy, adding that there was no physical signs of break-in. RCMP continue to investigate and charges are pending.