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Addictions Week 2011 Jails in the NWT are full of inmates with addictions Sara Wilson Northern News Services Published Monday, November 14, 2011
Nearly 89 per cent of inmates within the corrections system are dealing with an addiction, according to corrections officials. Corrections and front-line policing are telling the same story - that ownership and education are the key to curbing the territory's substance abuse issues. "Alcohol is a large issue within our system," said John Nahanni, program co-ordinator with the North Slave Correctional Centre (NSCC). "We're sitting, with all the offenders that come through here, at about an 89 per cent substance-abuse rate within the system." According to the NWT Health Status Report, issued in 2009, nearly 62 per cent of NWT residents between the ages of 15 and 24 were identified as having 'heavy drinking habits,' a label that defines a person who indulges in five or more drinks in one sitting, at least once per month. "Alcohol is the prevalent one," said RCMP Cpl. Wes Heron with Northwest Territories G Division. "We've found a lot of the calls for service we receive, be it a domestic violence complaint or impaired driving, are alcohol related. I know that here in the NWT the RCMP take this very seriously ... we're willing to put the time and the energy into getting the work done so the people and the communities are safe." Alcohol isn't the only culprit. According to the report, "in 2009, NWT residents 15 years and older reported using cannabis at a rate of 20 per cent, double the national average of 11 per cent." Nahanni said putting programs in place helps to minimize the rate of re-offenders that go through correctional institutions. "The underlying problem is a variety of concerns that comes about," Nahanni said. "That's part of where we try and help reintegrate back into the community and promote healthy living - having a positive support within the community." The correlation between high crime rates and substance-abuse problems exists throughout Canada. However, the NWT's specific issues deal, in part, with a change in socioeconomic conditions. "It's a hard thing to quantify. Populations grow and at the same time the economy is growing here in the North. But, conversely, education on drugs and alcohol abuse is very much up front," Heron said. "From a policing stand point we can say that we do see it and we do experience it .. we have to deal with that, day in day out, 24-hours a day, seven days a week." The NSCC offers a range of programs open to all 'clients' that are willing to enter into the rehabilitation process, including a traditional counsellor. "The traditional counsellor provides one-on-one sessions with our inmates as well as in group settings," Nahanni said. "A large part of his focus is working with the offenders to help them learn more about where they came from, about the roots of their heritage and traditional knowledge." The program aims to enable the offender to feel a sense of ownership and responsibility. "(The counsellor) works with our offenders and part of what he believes is getting back to their roots," Nahanni said. "We have drumming programs that helps people get back to their roots. When you are involved in those practices there's an internal belief that you need to be substance free to practise properly. That really helps people learn who they are and helps to change what brought them here." Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) has emerged as a third piece to the substance abuse triangle in the NWT, with nine per cent of pregnant women still choosing to consume alcohol while pregnant. "We know the rates of youth crime, suicide, violent crime and sexual assault are higher in the NWT than they are in the rest of Canada," said Doreen Reid, a FASD consultant and project manager with the Department of Justice. "We believe people with FASD are represented in our criminal justice system because of their brain challenges. We know that many outcomes occur because of alcohol use. We know the majority of calls to police services involve the use of alcohol. It is a significant factor in the NWT." While there are no statistics for the number of individuals living with the disorder, Reid believes the rate is high, and there are prevention programs throughout the territory to further decrease the numbers. "We have come a long way in creating awareness," Reid said. "I think that is a positive aspect of living in the NWT, that we're a small enough jurisdiction that we're more willing to talk about this issue. We have a high awareness level." The Not-Us campaign, a community initiative in its third year, aims to raise awareness and help promote anti-drug campaigns throughout communities. "The Not-Us campaign is an anti-drug campaign. What I really like about this initiative is it's providing financial and other kinds of support for communities to develop their own programs that follow their own priorities and their own messaging," Reid said. "What works in Yellowknife may not work in Sachs Harbour ... we provide them with start-up funding of $10,000 to develop their own campaign." Alcoholics Anonymous, currently offered at NSCC, is helping to curb the problem as well. "It's been very successful within our facility," Nahanni said. "On average we're probably looking at 25 to 30 inmates attending, which is very nice to see. It helps people develop a pro-social support amongst their peers. "We have heard clients wanting to go back to their communities and bring back the knowledge and experiences. It's a problem that's not just associated with corrections, it's a challenge that's everywhere socially." From a front-line perspective, the RCMP enforce legislation, but admits education is ultimately the key to minimizing the problem. "Putting everyone in jail is not the answer, but it's a sad fact of the reality that, yes, some people end up in jail," Heron said. "We are involved, we're in the communities, we want to change things, but at the end of the day we have to keep in mind that we are a policing service. Drugs and alcohol are addictions. We wouldn't take the lead on things like that as much as we would like to. The reality is that there are organizations and government departments and services that are better focused, equipped and positioned to address those." Heron would like to see the RCMP in a correspondence role in the process, adding that their experiences would be able to help support groups in the community. "We would become part of a process where we could lend our experiences to a government department that's leading an addiction awareness program," Heron said. "Our stuff is real, there's no hypothetical way of trying to describe, 'I handled five drunks over the weekend.' That's the hardcore reality of it all." Incidents recorded in 2010 Property crime violations (including breaking and entering, theft of motor vehicle, theft over $5,000, theft under $5,000 and mischief): NWT: 9,769 NUN: 5,595 Yukon: 3,103 Impaired driving: NWT: 740 NUN: 196 Yukon: 408 Drug violations: NWT: 730 NUN: 356 Yukon: 180 Populations as of 2010: NWT: 43,675 NUN: 33,303 Yukon: 34,246 Source: Statistics Canada, 2010
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