OVERDOSE DEATH TARGET OF THIRD INVESTIGATION

The federal justice department is reviewing the overdose death of a
government chemist who analysed drugs seized by police. Officials will
try to determine what impact the death will have on drug prosecutions
and whether the circumstances of the 1997 death should have been
disclosed to defence lawyers.

The Mounties don't share the justice department's concerns. "No drug
prosecutions or investigations were put at risk as a result of the
actions of this analyst," the RCMP said on Thursday.

Vancouver lawyer Ken Young, who is defending a number of clients up on
drug charges, said the chemist's death raises serious questions about
where he obtained his drugs. "He had to get it somewhere, let's put it
that way. Now, the question is, where did he get it?"

Any case handled by the Burnaby lab -- whether Henry John Sadkowski
was involved or not -- could be called into question, the lawyer said.
As in the O. J. Simpson murder trial in Los Angeles, defence lawyers
would be permitted to question the integrity of techniques used by lab
analysts, Young said. He is reviewing his files, checking for cases in
which Sadkowski was the analyst.

Health Canada and the RCMP conducted separate investigations last year
into the Burnaby lab where the chemist had worked for more than 20
years. They say the probes found no proof he had stolen narcotics from
the lab or that any drug cases had been put at risk.

Federal justice officials, however, say they only learned of the
chemist's drug overdose when The Delta Optimist broke the story last
week. Reporter Maureen Gulyas uncovered the bizarre tale while
researching a series on drug use in the suburbs.

"Because it's such a recent revelation, I'm simply starting to gather
some information at this point to find out what steps we need to take
in light of this information," Bob Prior of the federal prosecution
service said Thursday.

According to a coroner's report, Sadkowski, 51, died in his bed of a
drug overdose in Delta on May 30, 1997. Tests showed Sadkowski had
snorted a lethal mixture of cocaine and heroin -- more commonly known
as a "speedball."

Coroner Pat Harrison stated in his report that the cause of
Sadkowski's death came as a "total shock to his family and
co-workers." But tissue samples revealed the chemist "had been using
cocaine for some time without the knowledge of those close to him."

Once Health Canada learned the cause of death, it launched an internal
review and asked Burnaby RCMP to conduct its own investigation.

Greg Smith, western regional director of the health protection branch,
said he wanted to find out what safeguards existed to prevent an
employee from stealing drugs for personal use, and whether such a
theft had occurred in this case.

The lab -- one of six in Canada -- employs 11 to 12 analysts who
primarily test drugs seized by police in B.C., Alberta and the Yukon.

Checked-by: Rich O'Grady