Labrador family shattered by drug abuse
Teen's story indicative of rampant drug trade in region, parents warn
Last Updated: Thursday, September 17, 2009 | 2:38 PM ET
CBC News
The parents of a drug-addicted teenager in Labrador West have decided to go public with the story of how their family was torn apart by drugs in order to expose what they say is the region's rampant drug trade.
CBC has agreed not to identify the parents or the child, including the child's gender, to protect the family.
The father said he was even warned by the police about going public with his concerns.
"I've been told by the RNC to be careful what we do," he told CBC News. "Our child could be a target based on what we say or do. There's obviously people in this community that don't want this information to be out there."
The parents say their child's journey into the drug trade began three years ago when the child was in high school. The teen started changing friends, breaking curfew and losing weight — all the while denying using drugs.
When the teen stopped coming home at all, the parents decided to take action.
"You feel completely helpless," the father said, "and you feel as if you're not protecting them, and it tears you up inside."
The child's mother said she struggles to deal with the constant worry about her child.
"It's scary, not knowing if the next doorbell ring is going to be a police officer telling you your child is dead," she said.
'We've always been involved parents … yet, we've still had a bad result.'— Father of teen involved in drug trade
The father said it was a tough situation to accept for people who had always thought they had done a good job as parents.
"We've always been involved parents — whether it was through coaching, [as club]leaders … what not — yet, we've still had a bad result."
A few weeks ago, after they began to look deeper into their child's activities, they discovered proof of the teen's involvement with drugs. Emails and text messages between their child and drug dealers confirmed the teen was involved in the drug trade.
"It was simple text messages," the father said. "I was surprised, actually, how open they were. In the world of technology today, to have these messages out there ... we've got names."
One text message was about money and hinted that the teen was working for a drug dealer.
"You didn't pay me for that joint," the dealer writes. The teenager replies "Shit, I got the money." The dealer then writes, "That's okay, consider it a gift." The teen thanks the person, who then writes, "No sweat, least I can do for you if your [sic] going to help me."
Open drug use 'common' in Labrador West, father says
The father says he believes the people his child is involved with are dangerous.
"These people are scumbags and sleazes, and they'll do anything."
The father said his concern heightened to the point that he went to some of the parties his child was at so that he could remove the teen from the situation. The father said what he saw at those parties was frightening.
"A bowl of pills on the table, and this, apparently, seems quite common," the father said. "You'll pay an amount of money, a low sum, maybe $5, and they have at it, whatever you want."
"They're delivered," his wife adds.
"And that's scary," the father said. "They don't know what they're made of, what they're getting into. They could end up dead."
The mother says she is angry that the people involved in selling drugs have taken control of her child's life.
"The drug dealer has totally engulfed our child in that lifestyle," she said. "Using our child to run the operation, I guess, or do some of the runs. And apparently, it's being operated across the [Quebec] border and into here, so totally engulfing and separating our child from their family."
'We have to look at the culture that is harbouring this.'— Mother
The mother said she wants residents of Labrador West to start fighting back against drug use in the region.
"We have to look at the culture that is harbouring this," she said. "You can't go into a club without going in and seeing these drugs being blatantly used out in the open. We can't take that. As citizens, we can't; to save our children, we can't."
Mixing of hard drugs a problem: RNC
The parents took their concerns and what they had learned about the drug trade in western Labrador to the police.
Royal Newfoundland Constabulary Const. Bill Fitzgerald said without hard evidence, arrests are tough to make.
"You basically have to catch them with it," he said. "We get lots of information that a person had drugs last week, or there was a shipment here last week, but unless it's current information, then that's something you can't use.
"We've actually done some work whereby we send people in [to the bars] undercover and stuff like that," Fitzgerald said. "We haven't laid any charges on it yet. And other times, if we go in in uniform, I mean, there's coke and that being swept off tables."
Fitzgerald confirmed what the parents of the teenager suspect about drug use in Labrador West. He said police especially see a problem with the dangerous mixing of drugs such as cocaine and methamphetamine.
'We're seeing it [methamphetamine use] more and more, entire families, here in the Lab. West area.'— RNC Const. Bill Fitzgerald
"It's [methamphetamine] a very prevalent drug," Fitzgerald said. "People are using it freely, and it's such a highly addictive drug. It's having such a drastic effect here that I'm not sure if the people actually using it know the effect it's having. But we're seeing it more and more, entire families, here in the Lab. West area."
The parents say today their child is not living with them. They say they gave the teen a choice: stay at home or stay on drugs, and the child opted to move out.
The mother said she is worried about the safety of her teenage child, but she said it won't stop her from fighting for change.
"This operation runs deep," she said. "This is not, you know, your guy on the corner just handing out tokes or whatever for 25 bucks or whatever. This is a deep, deep operation. They're involved in some shady business."
Her husband agrees the family's only weapon is appealing to the public to help bring about change.
"Our way out of this is to educate people," he said. "To make the community understand this is everyone's problem. It's our issue to deal with, our issue to correct. We see it as our obligation to let as many people know as possible and to do whatever we can."
