ADDICTED INMATES TAKE DESPERATE ROUTE FOR FIX

Woman Dies Of Apparent Overdose At P.A. Institution

Drug-addicted women inside Prince Albert's Pine Grove Correctional Centre
have been drinking each other's vomit in a desperate effort to get high off
a dangerous prescription drug administered to some inmates, The StarPhoenix
has learned.

The shocking story emerged after a 37-year-old inmate, Sonia Faith
Keepness, died of an apparent overdose last month.

Keepness, who had just started serving a 19-month sentence for drug
trafficking and possession of criminal proceeds, was found dead in her cell
at about 6:50 p.m. on Feb. 19.

A source inside the institution said Keepness consumed the vomit of another
inmate -- an addict on the methadone program who had just been given her
daily dose of the drug.

"I know that's what happened," said the source, who asked not to be
identified. "The whole building knows about it. That's how she died."

Methadone is a powerful narcotic analgesic painkiller prescribed by doctors
as a replacement for illicit morphine, heroin and other opiates, because it
alleviates withdrawal symptoms.

The drug is always mixed with a small amount of orange juice before it is
dispensed to addicts.

Because one dose can kill an adult who has not been weaned onto the
medication by a doctor, many methadone patients -- including those who are
in jail -- are required to drink it under a pharmacist's supervision.

Inmates forcing other inmates to throw up their daily dose, and then
drinking or selling the liquid, sounds unbelievable but happens frequently,
the source said.

A spokesperson for the provincial Justice Department, which oversees the
facility, would not comment on the source's allegation, because the
investigation into Keepness's death is ongoing. However, Jeff Bohach
confirmed the jail has changed its procedures regarding methadone patients
since Keepness's death.

Rather than allowing inmates back into the population a few minutes after
drinking their dose, medical staff "will monitor the patient for one hour
after they receive their methadone," Bohach said.

Police and provincial Corrections officials are still waiting for autopsy
and toxicology results in connection with Keepness's death.

As well, an inquest has been ordered, as is standard procedure after an
inmate dies in a correctional institution.

No date has been set for the hearing.

Two inmates, 30-year-old Candace Dawn Ahenakew and 24-year-old Redenah
Faith Thomas, have been accused of selling or giving drugs to Keepness the
day she died.

Ahenakew is accused of trafficking methadone, and Thomas is charged with
trafficking marijuana and Librium, a common tranquilizer. Both appeared in
Prince Albert provincial court earlier this week.

Prince Albert police would not confirm or deny the vomit story, because the
investigation is ongoing.

Tim Krause, a spokesperson for Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) said
staff inside the federally run Saskatchewan Penitentiary have heard of
inmates in other facilities obtaining drugs by drinking vomit. No such
incident has ever been reported inside the penitentiary, he said.

Inmates on the methadone program in the penitentiary are kept away from
other inmates for five to 10 minutes after taking their dose in front of
medical staff.

After hearing about the alleged incident at Pine Grove, CSC will take a
second look at its practice, Krause said.