NEW STREET DRUG ADDS TO PROBLEMS AT LOCAL SHELTER

Al McDonald only wanted his tobacco back.

To do so he threatened to expose ongoing problems at the Salvation Army
emergency shelter in downtown Maple Ridge: stealing and fighting, drug
dealing and drug use - specifically crystal meth.

The latter is the root of it all, said McDonald, a shelter client and
methamphetamine user.

"It's all over the place."

Shelter staff admit such problems persist and are trying to deal with them.

The shelter hired a new director three weeks ago, freeing the former one to
work more closely with clients.

The shelter has also formed a liaison committee with clients to discuss
concerns and develop solutions.

One is to close the shelter's daytime drop-in program, hoping to discourage
loitering, which attracts drug dealers.

McDonald, who is 52 years old and schizophrenic, has rented a transition
room at the shelter for the past two months. He pays cash, $450 of his $600
monthly cheque from the Canada Pension Plan.

Drug dealers drop by the shelter every two hours or so, McDonald said. They
drive cars, ride bikes. Some walk. If no one wants to buy from them,
McDonald said they leave and come back later.

He buys crystal meth -$10 a point (the size of a finger nail) - to cope
with his schizophrenia. He served 19 months of a three-years sentence in an
Edmonton prison 25 years ago for hitting his mother and breaking her jaw.
He's been on an anti-psychotic drug ever since, he said.

He gets injections once a week. The medication makes him tired. "I don't
like being sleepy all day and sleeping."

Meth gives him energy, erases his depression. It also keeps him awake for
days straight, as it does others at the shelter. It comes in either powder
or a rock, which he crushes.

McDonald said many of the shelter clients use methamphetamine. "Everybody
in that place is on methamphetamine."

Such drug use leads to stealing and fighting. "The fighting, fighting goes
on all the time," McDonald said. "The women are terrible. They fight like
crazy." Usually about drugs.

"The men have to go in there and break it up," McDonald said.

Some clients are kicked out, he added.

Someone stole his tobacco tins last week. They cost $66 each. He buys two a
month from Zellers. "I can't go without tobacco," McDonald said.

He complained to shelter staff and said he's since been threatened by other
clients: "'Keep it down, Al. Keep your mouth shut or we'll shut it for ya.'"

He doesn't feel safe now, but he wants people to know what goes on at the
shelter, hoping things will change -or that at least he'll get his tobacco
back.

Kathie Chiu, captain of the local Salvation Army chapter, said security is
one of the main concerns among shelter clients: how to keep their
belongings safe.

Drugs are another issue. Chiu is aware that some shelter clients have
methamphetamine addictions, but isn't sure how many. She knows the signs:
Obsessive compulsive disorder, anxiety, agitation.

The shelter has programs to help clients struggling with addictions, but
drugs are not permitted in the building.

Shelter staff perform random drug checks. If clients refuse to empty bags
or have rooms inspected, they are asked to leave.

To further combat drug use, shelter staff have removed doors from
dormitories and bathrooms, as well as installed black lights in bathrooms.

"The idea is a person can't see their veins in a room with black lights,"
Chiu said.

The shelter has also closed its daytime drop-in program and is considering
reducing other services. "With the nice weather, there's no reason for
everyone to be sitting in the dining room all day," Chiu said of the
drop-in program.

It cost the shelter money to staff and encouraged loitering.

Staff are instructed to call police if they suspect drug dealing is
occurring on the property.

If Chiu spots an unfamiliar vehicle on site, she stands in front of it,
writes down its license plate, then start dialing the police on her cell phone.

"Aside from strip-searching everyone," she said. " it's almost impossible
to keep drugs off the property," Chiu said.

McDonald said he leaves the property to buy drugs. There are drug houses in
the neighbourhood. "I have places where I can go."

If not, "I go down the street and ask somebody."

He doesn't do speed everyday. "I would do it every day if I had the money."

He said he doesn't do drugs at the shelter, either. "I have to go around
the corner and do that on somebody else's property."

That angers neighbouring residents. "The neighbours get pissed guys are
shooting drugs," McDonald said.