DOPE,BOOZE PEDLARS TARGETED BY NATIVES

ISKUT, B.C .- Drug dealers and bootleggers in this tiny northwestern
British Columbia town have been given notice-stop doing business or get out.

Fed up with drug and alcohol problems in their village, the Iskut
Aboriginal Community Consultative Group decided to go directly after
criminals by putting up public notices.

When that didn't work, they sent letters to dealers.

And if the letters don¼t work, group members say they¼ll confront the
culprits in public-perhaps even camp out at suspected drug houses to deter
sales and shame dealers.

"We know who they are and we aren¼t going to take it any more," says group
member Sally Harvard.

In the community of about 350 residents, said Harvard, there are 15 to 20
bootleggers and drug dealers. The nearest liquor store is in Dease Lake, an
hour¼s drive away.

"You go out at night and see kids as young as 11 stoned out of their
minds or drunk." she said. "It's pretty disheartening to see things like
that. We want to put a stop to it. We will put a stop to it."

The public notices warned dealers they¼d be confronted.

"We're tired of the alcohol and drug abuse that has been passed down from
generation to generation," the notes said. "It's time we break that cycle
together."

They didn¼t work. So the group sent letters to dealers saying they¼d face
escalating action.

The next step is calling dealers to a meeting with the group, the band
council and the RCMP.

If that doesn¼t work, the group hasn¼t ruled out public confrontation or
banishing them from the reserve. "If all else fails we may have to," said
Harvard.

Similar community groups have been started in other northern towns and they
all work closely with police. Const. Jim Cooley of Dease Lake RCMP said
getting communities involved is the only way to solve the problems of drug
and alcohol abuse.