Drug use in Yellowknife jail highlights need for addiction supports

A recent sentencing revealed the extent of an inmate’s ability to access drugs at Yellowknife’s jail. Lawyers say that’s not uncommon and more supports are needed.

Devon Larabie, who was sentenced to life in prison last month for second-degree murder, told the author of a pre-sentencing report he had used alcohol and crack cocaine on “rare occasions” at the North Slave Correctional Complex since he was arrested in May 2020.

He said he had also tried heroin at the jail a year ago and had used methamphetamine since being incarcerated.

Justice David Gates said that was “a matter of great concern” both for Larabie and the impact on the public’s confidence in the justice system.

“He’s doing drugs in jail. He’s using heroin,” the judge said emphatically.

Larabie’s lawyer, Michael Spratt, told the court while his client completed a substance use management program and was working to address his addictions, he had relapsed.

The pre-sentencing report states Larabie began experimenting with alcohol at the age of 17 and first used crack cocaine when he was 24, which quickly became a problem.

“I think it all goes back to my mom, the abandonment and having no connection,” Larabie was quoted as saying about his substance use.

While Larabie has had periods of sobriety, he said he still craves alcohol and crack cocaine and “hasn’t learned yet.”

“I think if I was released tomorrow, I’d be right back into crack. I’m scared of that. I need real help but I don’t know what that looks like,” he told the report’s author.

Universal phenomenon

Larabie’s access to drugs while in custody is not an isolated case.

Spratt, who is based in Ontario, told Cabin Radio the issue appears to be typical in corrections facilities across Canada.

“That’s the sad reality, that it’s easier to get drugs in jail than it is to get drug treatment while you’re serving time before your trial,” he said.

John Hale, a defence lawyer based in Ontario who practises in the NWT and plans to move to the territory full-time, said illicit drugs entering jails is “a pretty universal phenomenon.”

The NWT’s Department of Justice told Cabin Radio there have been seven instances since January 2023 in which drugs ranging from cannabis to suspected fentanyl and crack cocaine were found at the North Slave Correctional Complex.

The department said five inmates had failed drug tests since then, though there had been no suspected overdoses at the jail in that time.

Ryan Beaulieu was sentenced to eight months for possession after corrections officers found a balloon containing 20 grams of fentanyl mixed with other substances inside his body after he arrived at the Yellowknife jail in April 2023.

Beaulieu’s lawyer argued the drugs were for Beaulieu’s personal consumption to avoid withdrawal while he was in custody on separate charges, which the court accepted.

Previously, in November 2015, the CBC reported two inmates were found in medical distress at the jail and doctors later determined they had overdosed on opioids.

NNSL reported another inmate had used fentanyl at the facility in 2016 but did not overdose, while RCMP alleged a man had attempted to smuggle cannabis and tobacco into the corrections centre in 2015, according to a CBC report at the time.

The justice department said there are policies and procedures to prevent drugs from entering the North Slave Correctional Complex, such as screening devices, but it could not provide specific details “for safety and security reasons.”

The department said the jail is equipped with Narcan to administer to inmates in case of a suspected overdose.

‘Part of people’s lives’

Hale said addiction, particularly to alcohol but increasingly to drugs, is “a golden thread” that runs through many crimes.

“It’s a huge problem,” he said.

“It leads often to breakdown in families, people becoming unstable in their lives, unstable in their employment, becoming more desperate to find money to get the drugs that they have become addicted to.”

Retired longtime defence lawyer Peter Harte agreed that alcohol plays a “huge” role in offending in the North. He said people need support to prepare them for their release from custody.

“It’s very challenging because typically, back home involves an environment where alcohol consumption is just part of people’s lives. It’s what normally goes on socially,” he said.

“They ultimately need to be involved in some sort of addictions treatment, if you will, that makes it possible for them to learn tools to stay away from alcohol when they’re back.”

Spratt said giving inmates access to treatment “should be the least controversial idea ever” and that “everyone loses if we don’t have sufficient treatment in custody.”

He said people with mental health and addictions issues are disproportionately represented in corrections institutions and often face challenges obtaining pre-trial release on bail.

“We have a population who often is crying out for treatment, wants to have treatment,” he said.

“Being in custody itself doesn’t cure your addiction. Public safety suffers because a window of treatment has been closed and someone is released back into the community in no better position than they were, or in a worse position than they were when they first came into contact with the justice system.”

Spratt said a variety of options are needed as treatment is “not a one-size-fits-all solution.” He said that includes abstinence, safe supply, and spiritual and cultural-based programs.

Supports available in NWT

Hale said there is a lack of addictions support at the North Slave Correctional Complex, particularly meetings of Narcotics Anonymous and Alcoholics Anonymous, known as NA and AA.

That was highlighted when Malcolm Glen Anderson was sentenced to 28 months in March 2024 for possessing cocaine for the purpose of trafficking.

Hale, who was Anderson’s lawyer, told the court his client attended an NA meeting for the first time when he was transferred to an Alberta jail during Yellowknife’s evacuation. He said the program helped Anderson, who has long struggled with addiction, learn about himself and why he uses drugs.

After returning to Yellowknife, Hale said Anderson tried to start meetings at the North Slave Correctional Complex but faced challenges finding a time when the jail’s meeting room was available.

“I think he was quite frustrated in the inability to schedule anything,” Hale recently told Cabin Radio.

“I think those meetings are critical for people who, you know, they’re in an especially high-stress environment when they’re in jail, where they probably need that type of support more than ever.”

According to the territory’s justice department, community-run AA meetings at the jail were put on hold due to Covid-19 and the volunteer that ran those meetings is no longer able to do so.

The department said the jail is now working with another organization to reinstate AA meetings and find volunteers. It said inmates are also able to hold AA meetings without an outside facilitator.

The department said the jail had not found an outside organization to facilitate NA meetings.

The department said, however, that inmates, including those on remand, can access the substance abuse management program at the jail. It said the program addresses the impacts of substance use, helps identify thinking errors, and supports positive thinking patterns, goal setting and cravings management. Participants also develop relapse prevention plans and resource lists to support their ongoing recovery.

The jail offers psychological and counselling services, the department added, that may focus on addiction recovery as well as traditional, cultural and faith-based services.

Outside jail, the NWT’s lack of addiction and recovery supports has been well documented, including in a 2022 auditor general’s report. People seeking residential treatment may be sent to one of several facilities in the south.

The territorial government has said it is working to expand detox and withdrawal management and hopes to launch a transitional housing addictions recovery pilot program in Yellowknife and Inuvik.

The NWT government also introduced changes to its mental health counselling system, which it said reduced wait times by 79 percent between 2020 and 2022.