After the Arrest

At the time of the arrest, Reggie was hitting "rock bottom".  In addition to the arrest, his addiction had almost been fatal a few times with overdoses in the past year; he had crashed his car; his business had failed; and hit was taking a serious toll on the family.

Reggie was given a trial date after being arraigned in Provincial Court.  The most likely outcome of his probable conviction would be a sentence to two years or less in Sleepy Hollow Provincial Correctional Facility, according to his lawyer, and common experience of similar cases.  The attorney was able to get the trial date pushed out until the following May, and then ultimately for June 26, 1998.

Reggie's parents arranged for Bail, and Reggie was released, but with the contingency of having to attend Addiction Treatment, first at Lonewater Farm, in New Brunswick, and then at Talbot House, a Provincial Addiction Treatment Center and "Half-way House".  Reggie enrolled in the Treatment Program in the months prior to his court date, and would be essentially free to come and go, but had to stay mainly at Talbot House during his treatment period.

The following are the pre-sentence documents submitted to the Court:

Post conviction Rehab treatment

So I returned to Talbot House and life went on pretty much as it had during the past few weeks. Several months passed and I made much progress with my illness.  One of the conditions of my sentence was that I attend a treatment program at Homewood Health Centre in Guelph, Ont.

Homewood Health Centre, Guelph, Ontario   (9/2/1998-10/23/1998)

I arrived at Homewood with high expectations but I was only there for a short while before things went wrong for me. My roommate was a heroin addict, from Vancouver, only 19 years old (Steve).  He and I got along great. He reminded me much of myself when I was younger, not taking life too seriously and perhaps too smart for his own good.  After a few days there, he came back from a walk downtown stoned on heroin. None of the staff or other patients knew, but I did. This went on daily for about a week before he was called in for a random urine test. The next morning, I came back from my morning session and he was gone. He took off for Vancouver without telling anyone.

All the while he was using I was really confused. Negative feelings and thoughts of deviant behavior which I thought had left me over the past few months were again brought to the surface. When I tried to talk about these feelings and behavior in group I was made to feel that the way I thought was wrong. When Steve was using I talked to him and asked him to confess to his group. He said he would but kept putting it off and then he was gone. When I told the nurse that I knew he was using she made me feel like I was bad and wrong for not turning him in. Meanwhile other patients were going home for the weekend and coming back drunk or stoned. These people were not kicked out. Their reasons for using were being dealt with in group. They were not punished.

This created great confusion in my mind because it was totally different from what I saw in treatment in P.E.I. but again when I brought up the subject of relapse I was told that I shouldn’t even be talking about such a thing. I just couldn’t understand how to get along, what they wanted from me and this eventually led to an early discharge from the program. I was also continually being questioned and analyzed about my motivation, as I was technically there under the courts direction. This to me was a hurdle I could not overcome.

Pre-sentencing Rehab

Reg started to write a daily journal during this period, which continued through his incarceration in Sleepy Hollow Jail

June 1 … Not a bad day, but didn’t go to meeting [AA Meeting].
June 2 … Started pre-sentence report ...
June 3 … [AA] Meeting at West Royalty.
June 4 … AA on Queen Street … Must go to library to check on correspondence course.
June 5 … Wish it would stop raining. Went to [AA] meeting at North End.
June 6 … Saturday. In Souris. Spent hours on internet for 1st time in years. Interesting.
June 7 … Sunday. Back in Talbot [House]. Meeting here. OK.
June 8 … Just came back from library. But it was closed. Will be going to NA [Narcotics Anonymous] tonite.
June 9 … Spent 3 hours in library. Dracula … Went to meeting at house.
June 10 … Screw-up over blood test – have to do it again. Found books on technical writing in library.

June 11 … Saw 6 at mall today –relieved … Will be going to Queen Street [AA] meeting tonight.
June 12 … Switched from dishes to bathroom, should be better for me. Walked to North End.
June 13 … Saturday – went home. Stevens birthday. Abigail will drive me out.
June 14 … Sunday at home in Souris. Talked to [Janine] for a while. [Janine] took me back cause Abigail was late.
June 15 … Group not bad. Going to see Dr. Jones today, then out for supper with mum and dad. NA tonight, not really looking forward to it. Will not go to library today because it is closed. Dr. Jones says I’ll go to Homewood [Ontario Treatment Center]. Garretty says he’ll recommend treatment. Everything seems to be going smoothly.
June 16 … Talbot House tonight.
June 17 … Saw Ken at Dorchester St.
June 18 … Gone to Queen St.
June 19 … Going to Souris today for 1st weekend out. Waiting for [Janine] at 6.
June 20 … Saturday in Souris. Didn’t really do anything.
June 21 … Too cold to go to Cavendish. Back to town tonight. Made it through first weekend without drinking.
June 22 … Went to see Dr. Jones. I may have an anxiety disorder, must read up on it.
June 23 … Saw John D. [my lawyer] ... getting very nervous now ... prob. Wants me locked up. Nervous and kinda confused tonight - almost like I’m stoned. … Am I going away for 2 years?
June 24 … 2 days to court. John [my lawyer] has me worried. Very pleased with letter from Dr. Jones – she came through for me.
June 25 … My birthday and maybe my last day here. Court tomorrow went for supper with [my family] mum, dad, Steven, [Valerie], [Janine], Art, Cindy, [Pauline] and [Terrence] at Lone Star. Got some advice from Leonard. Hope for the best tomorrow.

Self-bio for Rehab

[Editors Note:  Reggie enters Rehab in 1998.  While in rehab, inmates are asked to write their life stories and how they became addicted to drugs or alcohol.  Prior to this period, there are very few writings that we have been able to find, but we continue to look …]

My story begins in a way that I’m sure is similar to many other young people and winds up in a way that is uniquely personal but also bears some similarities with others.  Let’s go back 20 years to a small town in Prince Edward Island

I’ve had problems with drugs for a long time and it’s gone to the point where it’s destroying my life.  It’s only since I’ve stopped using that I’ve been able to understand this.

I haven’t been successful with treatment in the past but I’ve learned from those mistakes.  Unfortunately, I was the last one to see how badly I needed help.

It isn’t easy but I’ve reached a point in my life where I ready to deal with it. 

[the following appears to be a poem on the subject}

Failed at treatment before
Couldn’t do it for court / others,
Had to do it for myself
Last one to see it
When I got to know myself I saw / realized
That I wanted help
Surrounded myself with people
Who care and want to help me
I’ve got to start towards a better life, way of living
With support, I can turn my life around

I’ve had a problems with drugs for a long time, my life has been destroyed by it.  I’ve lost all I had because of it, including my family, my home and my business (and my self respect?).  I’ve reached a point in my life where I’m ready to deal with my addiction.

I see now how much I needed help but in the last few months I’ve made some changes in surrounding myself with people who care about me and want to help me.  With their support I know I can get through this and I can turn my life around.

Pre-Sentence Report

Pre-Trial Rehab – Lonewater Farm, March–May, 1998
[Editors Note:  Reggie wrote the following on his 3rd or 4th day in jail, later in the year]

… Severely depressed, and feeling that I just could [not?] handle life at the time I asked to be committed to some sort of treatment facility.  This turned out to be Lonewater Farm in (outside of) St. John, New Brunswick. 

I went there on March 29 still miserable and unhappy.  I had expected it to be a serious treatment facility but mostly it was just a ‘warehouse’ for winos from St. John wanting to get off the streets for a while.  3 meals a day and a roof over their heads, and, of course, a welfare check.  My stay there, sick as I was, was made easier by several guys from P.E.I. who I met and befriended there:  Kevin M. from Montague, Brian I. from Ch’town, and Trevor T. from Ch’Town.  All of these guys are involved in my story – condensed version. 

Brian and Trevor later came to stay at Talbot House with me.  After 6 weeks at Lonewater, I went in to St. John on a routine trip, and went straight to a bar.  I hadn’t planned this; I just felt drawn there (fate? destiny?).  Of course, I had several beers which led to my expulsion from Lonewater, and my return to P.E.I. 

After getting kicked out of there I realized that being sober for six weeks hadn’t been that bad and I became determined to continue to explore this lifestyle choice.  I should also mention that I went on a 2 day cocaine binge when I got to Souris which also helped me to come to the realization that I didn’t want that way of life anymore.  This also taught me that some positive can come out of a relapse and we need not always focus on the negative, as is usually the case, especially within the justice system.