STONEY'S NEW BOSS TARGETS FLOW OF DRUGS: PLANS TO PUT END NARCOTIC 'THROWS'

WINNIPEG - The new warden of Stony Mountain vows to shut down the drug
pipeline into the prison.

"Drugs make for unpredictability. It can trigger violent behaviour. And
with about 80% of the offenders here suffering some kind of substance
abuse, it's a constant concern for all who work and live here," said Don
Kynoch, 48, who took charge of the institution on June 9.

One of his first actions as warden was to put an end to drug throws, Kynoch
said yesterday during an interview with The Winnipeg Sun. A drug throw is
when a person outside the institution pitches a package of narcotics over
the fence into a prison yard.

"The staff has picked up their surveillance on this. Once a throw is seen a
jeep is dispatched immediately and more often than not we get the package,"
he said.

Many cons rely on friends, family members or even crooked staff to smuggle
in narcotics.

On March 29, prison contract employees were nabbed attempting to smuggle in
almost 200 pills. A search found hydromorphine, worth up to $250 a pill in
the pen, three kinds of Valium, 33 unknown white tablets and seven grams of
marijuana.

"Marijuana is the most common drug used here, but morphine pills are also
popular and can set off violent mood swings. It's that kind of
unpredictability that our staff look for and worry about," Kynoch said.

Prison officials are tipped off about the possible pipelines when they
discover traces of illegal drugs in random urine analysis of inmates. And
guards keep their ears to the ground, picking up snippets of information
that are passed to staff.

Another tool in the war on drugs is the ionizer -- an ion scan device at
the entrance to the pen. It measures narcotic residue on clothing or
personal items of anyone entering to visit cons.

WANTS DOG

Next year, Kynoch wants to bring in a dog trained in sniffing out drugs. A
dog would help in sweeps within the institution and to confirm tips on drug
carriers and users.

The new warden is encouraged by how his staff has embraced the attack on
the drug problem.

A measure of that success came at the end of August during a lockdown on
Aug. 30 after an inmate was found in the gym with several stab wounds.
During the lockdown, guards searched the prison and found a few weapons but
very few drugs.

"I think that's a good indication we are being effective in reducing the
drug traffic within the institution," he said. "But what goes on in the
institution is a mirror of the community and with drugs out there we aren't
naive to the fact that drugs are also in here."

THE KYNOCH FILE

Stony Mountain Warden Don Kynoch

Age: 48.

Corrections career:

* 1973, worked in Saskatchewan Penitentiary in Prince Albert.

* 1979, graduated from University of Regina with a business administration
degree.

* 1985, hired by Alberta's Department of Justice as deputy director of the
Edmonton Remand Centre.

* From 1985 to 1995, worked on a number of correction projects for Alberta
government, including the development of the first native run
minimum-security facility in North America, the Grierson Centre.

* 1995 to 1999, made Correction Canada's district director for Northern
Alberta and N.W.T. Focused on release programs to move offenders in a "safe
and timely way" out of jails and into the community.

* April 1999, came to Stony Mountain Institution as a deputy warden.

* June, 9, 2000, became warden of Stony Mountain. Former warden Dave Mills
joined the Prairie regional headquarters of the correctional service in
Saskatoon.

Stony Mountain penitentiary has an annual budget of $26-million, a staff of
400, and holds 418 inmates as of yesterday.