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Two days before Christmas 2000, as a Greyhound bus made its way through heavy snow from Winnipeg to Thunder Bay, Ont., Shaun Davis, a 21-year-old man from Pictou, N.S., told the driver the other passengers were threatening him with a baseball bat and rifling through his bags.

This was clearly not true. Recognizing the paranoia that was later linked to an overdose of dexedrine, prescribed for attention deficit disorder, the driver called police, who met them at a rest stop.

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They reassured Mr. Davis, and arranged for him to board the next bus and sit up front beside the driver. Passengers on the second bus were advised to avoid speaking to him, or even making eye contact, as he was clearly in emotional distress.

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Many would later testify he seemed polite, clean-cut, small and scared, like a little boy. He told police he did not want to see a doctor, but just wanted to get home for Christmas.