"You can hear them screaming . . . the stuff is still fermenting in their stomach"
High-test homebrew fuelling violence
By DEAN PRITCHARD, SUN MEDIA
The Winnipeg Sun
http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2008/10/27/7216746-sun.html
WINNIPEG -- It's a high-test homebrew called superjuice, and the hangover it's causing for residents of remote Manitoba First Nations is no laughing matter.
"It's pretty harmful stuff," says Edwin Wood, an Island Lake probation officer who has seen first-hand what a stupefying and violent impact the bootleg brew is having on his community. "A lot of the violence up here is attributed to superjuice. A lot of (people) are drunk when they are fighting each other, especially the gangs."
DIZZILY DANGEROUS
The Island Lake area is comprised of four First Nation communities -- St. Theresa Point, Wasagamack, Garden Hill and Red Sucker Lake -- located about 600 km northeast of Winnipeg.
Moonshine beverages such as fermented "bean juice" have long been common in the ostensibly "dry" communities, but superjuice, which first started appearing about four years ago, raises intoxication to new, dizzily dangerous heights.
The main ingredient is SuperYeast, a fast-acting yeast available in home-brewing stores. Mixed in a pail with sugar and water, one pouch can make 25 litres of superjuice in just a couple of days. The standard price of a two-litre bottle of superjuice is $80.
People drunk on superjuice are prone to violence, wild emotional outbursts, suicidal thoughts and frequent blackouts, Wood said. "With regular alcohol you can know what you are doing up to a point, but with superjuice you can't control yourself," he said.
Many teens drink the brew after it has been fermenting just one day and become violently ill, Wood said.
"A lot of the times you can hear them screaming in the police holding cells (because) the stuff is still fermenting in their stomach," he said. "It keeps them drunk too because it is still in their system and still cooking. A lot of the time we have to detain these kids a little bit longer because they can stay drunk for so long."
Police say regular bottled alcohol is now a rarity in the community and superjuice has become the booze of choice.
"It's more difficult to (smuggle) in a 40-ounce bottle of whiskey compared to a bag of yeast," said Island Lake RCMP Sgt. Danny Beland.
Beland said nearly 100% of crimes in the community are alcohol-related, a statistic seemingly borne out by a recent court docket. Time and again, in cases ranging from break and enters to violent beatings and sexual assaults, superjuice is identified as the root source of criminal activities.
INTERCEPT YEAST
In one case an 18-year-old man was convicted of raping two 13-year-old girls, one month apart, after they had been consuming superjuice. In another, a 20-year-old man slashed his uncle's throat after a drinking bout.
Police do what they can to intercept the yeast before it gets to the reserve, often seizing it from arriving passengers at the St. Theresa Point and Garden Hill airports. Local radio stations urge residents to report sightings of brewing pails -- often found stashed in the bush -- to police.
High-test homebrew fuelling violence
By DEAN PRITCHARD, SUN MEDIA
The Winnipeg Sun
http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2008/10/27/7216746-sun.html
WINNIPEG -- It's a high-test homebrew called superjuice, and the hangover it's causing for residents of remote Manitoba First Nations is no laughing matter.
"It's pretty harmful stuff," says Edwin Wood, an Island Lake probation officer who has seen first-hand what a stupefying and violent impact the bootleg brew is having on his community. "A lot of the violence up here is attributed to superjuice. A lot of (people) are drunk when they are fighting each other, especially the gangs."
DIZZILY DANGEROUS
The Island Lake area is comprised of four First Nation communities -- St. Theresa Point, Wasagamack, Garden Hill and Red Sucker Lake -- located about 600 km northeast of Winnipeg.
Moonshine beverages such as fermented "bean juice" have long been common in the ostensibly "dry" communities, but superjuice, which first started appearing about four years ago, raises intoxication to new, dizzily dangerous heights.
The main ingredient is SuperYeast, a fast-acting yeast available in home-brewing stores. Mixed in a pail with sugar and water, one pouch can make 25 litres of superjuice in just a couple of days. The standard price of a two-litre bottle of superjuice is $80.
People drunk on superjuice are prone to violence, wild emotional outbursts, suicidal thoughts and frequent blackouts, Wood said. "With regular alcohol you can know what you are doing up to a point, but with superjuice you can't control yourself," he said.
Many teens drink the brew after it has been fermenting just one day and become violently ill, Wood said.
"A lot of the times you can hear them screaming in the police holding cells (because) the stuff is still fermenting in their stomach," he said. "It keeps them drunk too because it is still in their system and still cooking. A lot of the time we have to detain these kids a little bit longer because they can stay drunk for so long."
Police say regular bottled alcohol is now a rarity in the community and superjuice has become the booze of choice.
"It's more difficult to (smuggle) in a 40-ounce bottle of whiskey compared to a bag of yeast," said Island Lake RCMP Sgt. Danny Beland.
Beland said nearly 100% of crimes in the community are alcohol-related, a statistic seemingly borne out by a recent court docket. Time and again, in cases ranging from break and enters to violent beatings and sexual assaults, superjuice is identified as the root source of criminal activities.
INTERCEPT YEAST
In one case an 18-year-old man was convicted of raping two 13-year-old girls, one month apart, after they had been consuming superjuice. In another, a 20-year-old man slashed his uncle's throat after a drinking bout.
Police do what they can to intercept the yeast before it gets to the reserve, often seizing it from arriving passengers at the St. Theresa Point and Garden Hill airports. Local radio stations urge residents to report sightings of brewing pails -- often found stashed in the bush -- to police.
