Pubdate: Thu, 31 Jul 2008
Source: Globe and Mail (Canada)
Copyright: 2008 The Globe and Mail Company
Contact:  http://www.globeandmail.ca/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/168
Author: Marsha Lederman
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/heroin.htm (Heroin)

RADIO STATION'S HEROIN SCORE ENDS UP AS A DOWNER

VANCOUVER -- When a guy dressed in a beaver suit can arrive on a 
Vancouver street corner and score some heroin within minutes, it 
highlights a serious problem in the city. So says the program 
director of a local radio station whose morning show performed the 
bit live on the air.

On June 4, CFOX-FM (99.3 The Fox) morning-show personality Captain 
Scotty went to the notorious Main and Hastings corner in the Downtown 
Eastside dressed as a beaver, carrying a sign advertising his desire 
to buy some heroin. Within minutes, a deal had been completed - 
broadcast live on-air during The Jeff O'Neil Show. Among those 
listening were two Vancouver police officers out on patrol. They 
headed to the scene and confiscated the substance, but did not make 
any arrests.

"They found him, intervened and took a small amount of heroin from 
him. He was very co-operative. He was handcuffed and ... using 
departmental discretion, after some discussion with him, he was 
released at the scene," said Vancouver Police Department spokesperson 
Jana McGuinness. "It was very dangerous for him to do that, but also 
he was potentially making light of a tragic situation. ... It's 
important that people know it's not a joke. From our perspective, it 
was a silly prank that could have had some serious ramifications."

CFOX program director Chris Duncombe (a.k.a. Dunner), who describes 
the program as an "edgy, comedy-based show," says the program was 
trying to demonstrate how easy it is to buy drugs in the city.

"There's been so many headlines in Vancouver about the accessibility 
of street drugs," he said. "It was to highlight the ridiculous nature 
of that. The show obviously made some errors in judgment in having 
done so, but their attempt was to highlight how simple it was for 
people to be able to buy drugs. Even a man in a beaver costume could do so."

But Ann Livingstone with the Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users was 
skeptical. "It sounds like a stunt to me," she said.

Ms. Livingstone, who did not hear the program in question, was not 
impressed to hear that police did not make any arrests. "They sure as 
heck wouldn't do that for anyone else. They'd charge them with 
possession," she said.

Constable McGuinness said police handed disciplinary responsibilities 
over to the radio station, which "took immediate action."

Mr. Duncombe said there were consequences for the staff members 
involved, but would not provide details.

"There was internal action taken with the morning show, but we're not 
going to discuss it. ... It's not our policy to do so."

The rock radio station is owned by Corus Entertainment, whose assets 
also include a number of family-oriented properties, such as 
Treehouse, Teletoon, YTV, Discovery Kids, Kids Can Press and the 
animated production and distribution company Nelvana.

Attempts to reach the morning-show personalities involved were 
unsuccessful yesterday. They are on vacation, and the station is 
running best-of shows in their time slot until Tuesday. Mr. Duncombe 
said the vacations and taped programming were planned long ago, and 
were unrelated to the heroin-buying incident.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom