The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, November 2, 1994 - Ag Not the first, not the last Alcohol poisoning death of teen sparks call for action. By JEFF NAGEL IN 17 YEARS as a coroner here, Jim Lynch has never seen a body with as much booze in it as 13- year-old Sandy Alexander Spen- cer’s, At 0.53 grams of alcohol per lite of blood — nearly seven times the legal limit for driving — the boy was off the scale for all practical purposes, He had been chuggalugging vodka when he died on July 30, Lynch says, and investigators think he did it on a dare. “It’s just unbelievable,’’ says Lynch. ‘‘It’s very, very high. You have to be chugpalugging in or- der to do that.” People usually pass out before they can drink enough to kill themselves, “Tam shocked. When you geta boy who’s just turned 13 dead, - that’s hard to believe.” Lynch will release his recom- mendations in the case later this month. But he is already releasing an unprecedented amount of in- formation about the alcohol poisoning death in the hopes it will spur people to action. .. "He wasn’t the first and he’s not going to be the last,’’ Lynch ' “Says. “This is just one kid in our community,’? he added, ‘There are lots like him. They use and abuse alcohol and drugs. The only reason this one came to our attention is that the boy dicd.”” _ ~ Lynch was called to the apart- ment at the Kalum Gardens Apartments at 8 a.m., July 30th, after police found Spencer’s body ona mattress in a pool of vomit. The coroner had to step over | _ passed-out bodies in each room to reach the dead boy, A. woman was slapping one of the — passed-out teenagers, demanding to know the whereabouts of her baby, which he was supposed to be babysit- ting. The youth didn’t come to. The kitchen was liltered with Budweiser cans and liquor bottles. No food, ' Some of the other ieens were still passed out two and a half Me WH Tt So sly Fm 43-YEAR-OLD “Sandy Alexander Spencer drank himself to. death in this Kalum Gardens Apartment on July 30, He had a blood alcohol content of .0, 53 grams Ter itre —_ more than seven times the legal limit for driving. hours Jater when Lynch left. “This is how these people live,”’ he says. ‘‘I’ve seen it many times over the years at many al-- coholic residences.” “We're not talking about any- thing unusual at all.’ Spencer had been picked up downtown at 10:45 p.m. that night by four other icenagers in a limousine. The four teens had rented the limo earlier in the night and brought four 40-oz bottles of lig- uor with them on a drunken ride to Kitimat and back. While riding downtown in the limo, Spencer drank about one- quarter of a 40-oz. bottle. All the teens were then dropped off at the apartment on Scott Ave., where more drinking ensued, It would be hours later before anyone realized Spencer was dead. Part of the problem Lynch points to is the teens’ ease in ac- quiring liquor. It was ordered through a local delivery service, says Lynch. An adult paid for the booze and then turned it over to the youths. But he said kids sometimes use delivery services unassisted by tuming on the shower when the delivery van drives up. “They say ‘Mom’s in the shower, here’s the money,’ ” Lynch says. bootlegged for you is very com- mon in this community.” . Police are continuing their in- ‘vestigation into the case, but so Kermodei Iv 0% Interest ¥ Do Not Pay Until April 1, 1995 ¥ No Maximum Credit Limit (QAC) ¥ No Down Payment v Approx. 50 Participating Merchants ¥ Avoid High Credit Card Interest Rates ¥ 24 Hour Pre-Approved Credit ¥ Shop from Nov. 1 to Jan. 7! YOU CAN SPEND YOUR KERMODEI KASH DOLLARS AT ANY OF THE FOLLOWING PARTICIPATING RETAILERS: v Kermodei Kash of $25, $50, $100 ‘Getting alcoho] - far no charges have been laid. Just a month before, Lynch had dealt with the death of a man in Iskut who had a blood-alcohol content of 0.44. He told police then they wouldn’t see one of those very often, **Now this,’” Lynch says, shak- ing his head. Every year people drink them- selves to death inB.C, - There were 31 deaths duc to acute alcohol poisoning in B.C, last year. But among lecnagers under 19 years, there have been only two other cases in the last three years. Such deaths aren’t limited to al- ‘cohol abuse, either! ‘ Lynch , said, a 12-year-old. boy o sot te: died in Alyanst this past year of gasoline sniffing. The other teens involved in the Spencer case are still doing the same things, Lynch says. “Tf you go there on any given night, you'll find it not much dif- ferent,’” he said. ‘‘All you have to do is get up at 2:30 or 3 in the morning and start driving around town, and you'll see whal hap- pens.” The message hasn’t gotten through yet, he said, and he’s not sure what it’s going to take to get action. “They don’t understand the near-misses,’? adds Terrace Men- tal Health’s Yvonne Reid. ‘‘They end up in the hospital and they're told they ‘almost’ died’ the ‘night - before —_— but it just « doesn’t com- pute. ” Kenney crossing probed THE HIGHWAYS ministry already knows there are traffic problems across the Sande Overpass and on the stretch of Hwy16-Keith Ave. as ‘it passes through town, And now the ministry has. its sights set on another bit of: Hwy16 — the intersection of - itand Kenney. The emphasis is not neces- sarily to examine the number of accidents that do take place: bul on how many near ones occur, says highways ministry spokesman Jane Stead, ‘When accidents happen, we can find out how they’ were caused. [t’s the ones-that- neatly happen, what could | have been, that can, tell us certain things,’’ she said, | From that, Stead continued,: officials can determine ; what changes are needed to ensure: | smooth flowing traffic. ; wee “Site. distance, ‘exits “and. entrances, the kinds of traffic — all play a rolc,’’ she said. The Hwy16-Kenncy’ ‘inter- section brings together both: city and highway traffic of varying specds, That traffic is residential as: . well as commercial, there's a. level railway crossing right nearby and Jarge numbers. of - cyclists and pedestrians use it: ‘] “I know the city bas ex-. pressed its concerns and we. are aware there are a number of schoo! students on- foot who use it,” said Stead, She expected that a report will be ready in November. The study comes under. a° highways ministry-ICBC pro- gram which looks at ways of f° : fixing problem intersections and thus reducing accidents’: and resulting expenses, . The highways ministry says $485,000 spent in the last six months on 16 intersections. around the province have al- ‘ready resulted in fewer acci- . dents. ‘ — Safeway Pharmacy Just What the Doctor Sed Bl Wisi to puincas |- PRESCRIPTIONS FRONT CASH RG McEwan GM River Industries Shoppers Auto Mart Ltd, 7 fue ie Terrace Totem Ford Changes Total Hair Care First Choice Bullders Supply Ltd. . . pe es Terrace Co-op CMO Carpets Cotton Company Safeway Pharmacists Paul Yip and Wendy Wong. Drifter's Western Wear Inc, Glass Slipper Bridal Shoppe Jean's North 7 Kid's Choice Boutique Mum's Place Rose's Ladies Fashions At Safeway, we've played an important role in Canadian families for spre ar iter Aone Dune Kates Moker generations. And because the family is changing, we're changing too. 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