GRIEVING MOM WARNS OF METHADONE THREAT

Tests Confirm Son, 22, Died Of Overdose

KITCHENER -- A grieving mother is warning young people in Waterloo Region
to stay away from black-market methadone after tests confirmed the powerful
drug killed her son.

"They should educate people and tell them this stuff is dangerous,'' said
Reta Sandy, whose son, Joseph MacKenzie, 22, was found dead in his bed at a
Kitchener housing co-operative May 20. "I don't want no one else to be hurt
by it. This is too much.''

Sandy, a mother of four who lives in Cape Croker, north of Wiarton, said
she refuses to believe her son knowingly took methadone, a federally
controlled narcotic that is used to treat people addicted to heroin and
other opiates.

But after an agonizing, four-month wait for toxicology results from the
Centre of Forensic Sciences, she said the potential consequences of its use
outside medical treatment should now be clear to everybody.

"This is what methadone can do,'' said Sandy. "I'll never be able to hold
him, to hug him and tell him everything will be OK."

Waterloo regional police said more than a month ago that they suspected
methadone illegally bought and sold on the street was behind the overdose
deaths of at least three Kitchener young people in a two-month span.

But because of testing delays at the provincial crime laboratory in
Toronto, toxicology results on MacKenzie, a father of two, are the first
concrete evidence investigators have.

Police are still waiting for test results on Jessica Weber, 15, and Amanda
Raymond, 13.

FOUND UNCONSCIOUS

Weber, a student at Grand River Collegiate in Kitchener, died in hospital
after she was found unconscious July 8 in a Thaler Avenue home. Michael
McAllister, 19, has been charged with manslaughter, trafficking and
obstruction of justice in her death.

Raymond, also of Kitchener, died after a party June 27 at the Somme Island
home of Christopher Watts on Puslinch Lake, east of Cambridge. Watts is
charged with sexual assault and sexual interference in the case.

Despite their earlier warnings and Sandy's emotional plea, however, police
are now tight-lipped about their investigation into a possible methadone
connection in the three cases.

Sgt. Brian Eckensviller refused to disclose MacKenzie's cause of death,
saying that information was being withheld at the request of his family.

He did say toxicology results "confirmed suspicions we had" and that the
death was likely accidental.

"It's not a homicide, nor will it be,'' said Eckensviller. "There are just
some loose ends we have to tie up.''

Det.-Const. Neil Squirrell, who is investigating the death of Jessica
Weber, said police "continue to cover the other areas" and still strongly
suspect she died of a methadone overdose.

Police have previously said there is a booming black market in methadone
and that they're probing the possibility it is making making its way on to
the street from one or both of the two local clinics where it is prescribed
for addicts.

Dr. Ralph Stemeroff has run a relatively small clinic in Kitchener for
several years. Dr. Jeff Daiter opened his Waterloo clinic in December,
quickly growing from just 30 to 170 clients, and recently moved to an
undisclosed location after complaints from neighbours.

Given under medical supervision as a substitute for heroin and other
opiates, methadone is widely accepted as an effective way to help addicts
stabilize their lives by controlling their cravings.

But if it is taken for recreational purposes by people who haven't built up
a tolerance, especially in doses prescribed to addicts, experts say it can
shut down the respiratory system and easily kill.