'PUSHER POSTERS' DRAW MIXED REVIEWS

A Copper Ridge resident found a poster Thursday showing two photos of
reputed drug dealers under the title "Drug Dealers At Work Outside the 202".

Organizers of tomorrow afternoon's Rotary Peace Park rally say the
posters have nothing to do with their group and no one has come
forward to claim responsibility for the posters. The posters appeared
on Granger subdivision mailboxes. Some had been taken down by today.

They showed one picture of four men outside the 202 bar and one
picture of a single man outside a convenience store. They also had a
short list of licence plate numbers and addresses.

But organizers of tomorrow's rally say it wasn't them who made the posters.

"We are trying to deal with this in a legal and non-violent way," an
organizer said.

"We're not affiliated with the creators and distributors of this
poster but we don't necessarily condemn what they're doing."

City councillor Bev Buckway said both the posters and tomorrow's
afternoon rally show that people are getting mobilized in the
movement against drug dealers.

She noticed the posters yesterday at the Granger mail kiosk.

Both Buckway and Coun. Doug Graham are concerned the local movement
could escalate into a violent vigilante situation.

In Grand Menan, N.B., there was a riot when 40 people came after
approximately 10 reputed drug dealers at a suspected drug house.
Gunshots were fired and 15 people suffered minor injuries.

"That's not going to solve anything," said Graham, who helped his
daughter evict a tenant from her downtown house when they found out
the tenant was a dealer.

Graham said his daughter didn't even give the 30 days' notice when
neighbours reported what was happening at the house.

"We turfed him out immediately," said Graham.

While the move against drug dealers led to a riot in Grand Menan,
Coun. Dave Austin said he doesn't think that will happen here.

So far, the people involved in the local movement have behaved
peacefully and seem to be level-headed, he said.

Many have families they don't want to put at risk, said Austin, who
stated the posters aren't a bad idea as they could expose the people
dealing drugs in town.

He admits there could be legal implications for the person who made
and displayed the poster, but also pointed out there would have to be
proof as to who did it.

"I'm really surprised anybody would do that knowing how many
different laws that would break," said Graham, noting it's an
indication of the growing frustration at the local drug scene.

"If the people put posters up saying certain individuals are drug
dealers, that is defamatory unless it is true," Whitehorse lawyer
Grant MacDonald said today.

If the content of the posters is true and could be proved true in
court, the individual or group that put them up could not be sued.

But MacDonald said a lawsuit is likely the least of the poster-maker's worries.

"If I was the person putting up the poster, I would be more worried
about my physical safety than any legal risk, because we seem to live
in troubled times in Whitehorse in the drug trade."

MacDonald is concerned last week's vigilante action and this week's
poster-makers are starting a turf war with a criminal organization
controlled from Outside.

"It has every possibility of opening a big can of worms. You run
every risk in the world that reinforcements will be sent in from Outside."

Unnamed sources have been saying for several days now that those
reinforcements have already arrived and that 20 people associated
with a southern controlled outlaw motorcycle gang have arrived in Whitehorse.

RCMP are watching the situation closely, said Sgt. Roger Lockwood
with the Whitehorse detachment.

"Right now we're examining the posters and obviously we have an
obligation to protect Yukoners," he said today.

Lockwood said the RCMP could not validate the content of the posters
but are monitoring the situation and working to protect Whitehorse
citizens from violence that may arise from recent events.

"There is always the potential for possible ramifications as a result
of the posters so we'll be monitoring the situation."

George Arcand is the executive director of Softball Yukon, where
fights during this month's Dustball dance began the anti-drug
movement growing in Whitehorse.

He could not comment directly about the posters nor vigilante actions
but said people have no right to complain about Whitehorse's drug
situation if they don't step forward to take responsibility for it.

"It's not just the other guy's problem; it's everybody's problem. We
all live here, it's all our community.

"It can be whatever you want it to be but you have to have a role in
making it what you want it to be."