Pubdate: Fri, 10 Mar 2006
Source: Edmonton Journal (CN AB)
Copyright: 2006 The Edmonton Journal
Contact:  http://www.canada.com/edmonton/edmontonjournal/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/134
Author: Susan Ruttan
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/coke.htm (Cocaine)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine)

CRACK CRISIS AT ENOCH

Chief Ron Morin Wants Advance On New Casino Profits To Treat Drug And 
Alcohol Addicts

EDMONTON - The Enoch First Nation on Edmonton's outskirts is being 
overrun by crack cocaine and methamphetamine addiction, just months 
before its $150-million casino and resort opens, the band chief says.

"We have a crisis here in our community -- eight deaths, drug and 
alcohol related, in six months," Chief Ron Morin said Thursday. "One 
suicide, one attempted suicide. Capital Health region told us there 
were 22 crack babies born ... in less than two years."

A frustrated Morin said the band wants to get a bank loan to start 
treating as many as 100 drug and alcohol addicts, but has been 
stymied by foot-dragging by the Alberta Gaming and Alcohol 
Commission. The band needs a letter of permission from the commission 
before it can get the loan. Morin said $20 million of the loan would 
be paid back through casino profits made in the first year.

He also wants the commission to loosen the rules that govern what 
charities can spend casino profits on, so the band can use the money 
for a wide range of programs.

"Crystal meth and crack are such destructive drugs," he said. "I'm 
just heartsick with the number of people in our community that the 
police have done their arrests on."

What Enoch wants to do, Morin said, is help fund a large treatment 
centre on the O'Chiese First Nation near Rocky Mountain House. If 
treatment could happen quickly, Morin hopes some band members could 
kick their addictions and qualify for jobs in the casino.

The River Cree Resort and Casino is due to open in the fall and is 
expected to employ 800 to 1,000 people.

"If we wait till September when the casino opens (to get the money), 
many of our people will not have had the intervention programming 
that they need," Morin said.

Money is also needed to set up the Enoch charity that will handle the 
casino proceeds, he said.

Commission spokeswoman Marilyn Carlyle-Helms said the Enoch letter 
requesting rule changes was only received a week ago and considering 
any changes will take some time. She had no information about the 
band's desire to borrow against future casino profits.

Morin said the Enoch have committed not to use their casino profits 
to pay for construction costs, to pay casino workers or to distribute 
money to band members.

Housing, infrastructure, programs for kids and programs for drug 
users, totalling upwards of $50 million, are all necessary, he said.

The Enoch casino will be Alberta's first casino on a reserve. The 
band has about 2,000 registered members plus nearly 400 
non-registered residents.

Morin spoke at a news conference held during a break in the winter 
meeting of the Assembly of Treaty Chiefs of Alberta at the Fantasyland Hotel.

The chiefs passed a resolution calling for 10-year mandatory 
sentences for doctors or pharmacists convicted of knowingly 
over-prescribing addictive drugs.

They also denounced the Alberta government's proposed "third way" 
changes to health care, saying more privatization will hurt aboriginal people.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom