Chinta Puxley, THE CANADIAN PRESS

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WINNIPEG - A potent new homebrew that is fuelling violence, suicide and crime is plaguing dry northern reserves in Manitoba.

Chiefs, RCMP and politicians are struggling to deal with a toxic drink known as "superjuice" made with quick-fermenting yeast.

Chief David Harper of the remote Garden Hill First Nation says a one-litre bottle costing $40 is enough for four people to drink until they black out. Abuse of the powerful concoction worsens on days when welfare and child benefit cheques arrive, he says.

"There are a lot of suicides, depression, oppression that comes along with this substance," says Harper, whose fly-in community is about 600 kilometres northeast of Winnipeg. "It escalates from there. It's almost like an everyday thing. It's an addiction."

Police talk of people wailing in pain after drinking the brew as it continues to ferment inside the body. After a night of consuming superjuice, people wake up in jail cells with no memory of how they got there, Harper says.

The brewer's yeast is sold in packets, often at wine-making stores or over the Internet, and then mixed with sugar and water in a pail. The mixture can be sold within 24 hours but the longer it ferments, the more potent it is.

"This is a new phenomenon," says Eric Robinson, the province's acting minister of aboriginal affairs. "If you take it for a prolonged period of time, they say a bottle of beer just won't do it, won't tickle your innards as this stuff does. It's really addictive and it's really dangerous."

Although some aboriginal youth have suggested banning the sale of brewer's yeast to native people, Robinson says that would be a violation of their rights. So would confiscating the yeast at provincial airports in the north, he suggests.

"We're wrestling with an issue here that we've never had to deal with before. While we know the dangers of it, the danger we're running into is we can't start confiscating this very dangerous ingredient from people because there is nothing illegal about it."

Sgt. Alex Bear has only been in the RCMP's new St. Theresa Point detachment since September but he's already seen more than his share of superjuice. People who drink the stuff in the remote community can be charged with drinking on a dry reserve, he says.

But a bylaw infraction isn't enough to deter many drinkers.

"The stuff has not fermented properly. When they're drinking this homebrew, it's still fermenting as they're drinking," Bear says. "People tell me it hurts their stomach."

When they drink the concoction, there are more violent clashes and more calls to police, he says.

While RCMP say they are trying to fight the scourge of superjuice through education, others say the solution is much more complex.

Like sniffing gasoline - another problem that has plagued remote communities - drinking superjuice is a symptom of a larger problem, says Grand Chief Ron Evans with the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs.

People live crammed in a house with up to 20 others, with no education or employment, let alone hope for the future. The despair drives them to turn to substance abuse and suicide, he says.

"(People) get involved in gangs or start using substances that will take away the hopelessness that is being experienced.

"The youth are desperate to try to deal with this. They see the devastating impact it's having on their relatives and friends. It's not an easy problem to find a solution to."

Banning people from buying yeast isn't the answer, Evans agrees. He believes politicians at all levels need to work together to fight the tremendous poverty that has aboriginal youth of their optimism for the future. People on dry reserves need a higher standard of living, a recognized education and a job.

Young people need community centres where they can play games and find alternatives to getting high or drunk, Evans adds.

"We need to find a solution that will work."