We may soon learn more about what happened when dozens of crew members from the movie “Titanic” were fed soup laced with a hallucinogenic drug while filming in Nova Scotia.
A new report from the province’s information and privacy commissioner is telling Halifax Regional Police (HRP) to disclose more details about the August 1996 incident, which sent around 80 “Titanic” crew members to hospital in Dartmouth, N.S., including director James Cameron.
Initially fearing food poisoning, all had in fact unknowingly eaten lobster chowder spiked with the drug phencyclidine, which is also known as PCP and angel dust.
The report was made in response to a freedom of information request complaint. While Halifax police initially released 10 pages of records, much of it was heavily redacted.
“The responsive records consist of HRP’s rapid incident report,” Nova Scotia information and privacy commissioner Tricia Ralph explained. “This report is essentially 10 pages of narrative text regarding HRP’s investigation into the alleged lacing of food with PCP. It details who HRP officers talked to and what those people said.”
In her report, Ralph concluded that police were only authorized to withhold identifying personal information, and not witness testimonies themselves.
“Names, pronouns, contact information, and work history of third party witnesses meet the definition of ‘personal information,'” Ralph wrote in her March 28 decision. “In contrast, some of the information withheld consists of factual observations made by third party witnesses. With personal identifiers … removed, this information does not meet the definition of personal information and so it cannot be withheld.”
If Halifax police comply with Ralph’s recommendations and deadline, the nearly 30-year-old records could be released as soon as mid-May.
This article will be updated.
