Pubdate: Fri, 29 Jul 2005
Source: Spruce Grove Examiner, The (CN AB)
Copyright: 2005 The Grove Examiner
Contact:  http://www.sprucegroveexaminer.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1842
Author: Trevor Miller

DRUGS PRESENT IN COMMUNITY BUT COULD BE WORSE

Melissa* came to Spruce Grove two years ago from British Columbia. She was 
addicted to cocaine, at age 14.

It took her less than one week to find a supplier here.

Drugs and drug use are not new issues, neither here nor anywhere else. 
Every municipality has problems with drugs, both illicit and the more 
prevalent cigarettes and alcohol.

Substance abuse can tear apart families and destroy peaceful communities. 
People looking for cheap cash to support a habit sometimes commit crimes, 
such as thefts from motor vehicles, break and enters and vehicle thefts.

Some communities try to combat the problems with projects such as the Drugs 
and Alcohol Resistance Education (DARE) program, to teach children about 
the risks of all drugs and poor choices.

In addition, Parkland County is looking for co-operation from Spruce Grove, 
Stony Plain, and possibly other area municipalities to set up a task force 
consisting of approximately four trained police officers with special 
equipment, dedicated to combating the problem.

"What we're looking for are safe communities," said Pat Brennan, the 
Parkland County councillor who brought forward the recommendation in June. 
"We're trying to have an impact in another way on youth (involved with 
drugs), because a lot of them never reach their full potential."

Tri-municipality

"There is absolutely a drug issue," said Ray Boudreau, formerly with the 
RCMP and currently youth mentor for Spruce Grove's family and community 
support services, adding that Spruce Grove is no different from any other 
municipality he's worked in as an RCMP officer.

"The communities have all had drug issues, ever since I started in 1976."

Project Kleen Sweep, a month-long drug operation that concluded May 6, 
resulted in 37 charges being laid against 16 individuals. Another 100 
people were identified as active narcotics traffickers within the 
tri-municipality area.

"It gave us a truer picture of what we should be doing in regards to drug 
issues," Albers said, adding "we are limited a little bit by the resources 
we have in the streets."

Some of the community policing is done by concerned residents involved in 
programs such as Citizens on Patrol and in various Crime Watch 
organizations, though these people aren't necessarily trained to look for 
drugs and drug use, nor would it necessarily be safe for them to do so.

However, Fred Reeve, president of Blueberry Crime Watch, said "I know it's 
around," though he hasn't had much first-hand experience with substance abuse.

"We do hear of the odd rumour, and people think there may be some drug use, 
but if it was running rampant I'm sure we'd be hearing more about it."

Boudreau, who often works in and around the Lions Log Cabin in Spruce 
Grove, and often deals with young people with addictions, has a slightly 
different perspective.

"Young people are no different with their drug containers than they are 
with slush containers and other garbage," he said. "If they're going to 
throw garbage on the ground, they will also drop drug items."

This garbage can be used to determine drug use in the area, both in terms 
of volume and types of drugs.

Police

"It's something that we have to be concerned about," said Const. Craig 
Albers with the Stony Plain/Spruce Grove RCMP detachments, adding that 
people shouldn't necessarily be frightened of drug use in the communities, 
though they should keep a wary eye out for unusual activity.

"Operation Kleen Sweep gave us a better picture of what's happening with 
drugs in the area."

However, Albers agreed that though the situation may seem much worse than 
in previous years, now it's "showing up a little more because we've become 
more aware of it. We've become better at detecting drug use and we're 
educating people to spot it."

Despite showing up more, and despite increased public education, it's 
difficult to attribute any specific crime to drug use, or any motive at all.

"Sometimes people are looking for quick money to support their habit," 
Albers said. "Sometimes we aren't sure, though, whether it's vandalism or 
an attempted theft."

Police haven't many extra officers to do investigative work and follow up 
on crimes of that nature, and they support the idea of a drug task force in 
the area.

"If you put this team on the street, it would have an immediate impact," 
Albers said.

Perspective

According to Albers, Melissa is not alone in the under-25 demographic in 
terms of drug use. He says the majority of drug users are probably within 
that age range.

Interestingly, Melissa disagrees.

"Everybody, any age, does it," she said. "They all hang out together; it's 
around."

She added that people don't have any trouble finding dealers in the area.

"It took me a week to find someone," she said, adding that "now I know 
about 50, and if I know that many, I'm sure there are a lot more."

She got into drugs very young and has since tried many different types of 
substances, though she says "now I'm pretty much off all hard drugs. I was 
in rehab for a long time."

Melissa said youth get into drugs, and continue doing them, because of the 
feelings the substances cause and a feeling of power. "They're all young 
and they think they can live forever."

Youth who find themselves involved with drugs are in an unenviable 
position. It's often very difficult to turn to families, and friends may 
not offer the right kind of support or may be lost during the habit.

Schoolwork and employment may begin to suffer, and by the time youth want 
support to quit drugs, they may feel utterly alienated from the community.

This is where support groups, such as AADAC and FCSS step in, and try to 
provide the help these youth need. The programs should not be neglected in 
favour of the task force, Brennan said. "Treatment is very important and 
should continue to be important."

Effects

Certain drugs are more common than others, depending on the population, the 
year, popularity of a drug and accessibility, according to Boudreau.

"In some of the other communities I've worked in, there were more injectors 
than here," he said. "However, this could have been the vogue way of taking 
drugs at the time, and because of the HIV/AIDS scare, maybe the injection 
method isn't any longer the method of choice."

Police have seen some changes in the drug use scene over the years, as 
well, though not as much as is possible.

"Marijuana, alcohol and cigarettes are still the big ones," Albers said, 
"though there is still crack, cocaine, crack cocaine and crystal meth. 
Other drugs are also being used to a certain extent."

Another drug use that's emerging with the younger population is called 
"dusting," from the name of the popular product used, Dust Off. This is 
essentially compressed air in an aerosol container, used for spraying out 
computers and keyboards and such. It produces a slight high if inhaled, by 
freezing certain cells in the brain.

It can cause brain damage and has resulted in at least three deaths so far, 
though none in the tri-municipality area.

"It's important to be vigilant," Boudreau said. "It's important for the 
community to be aware of the problem."

If you have a compressed air can in your home, keep it out of reach of 
children, preferably somewhere hidden or locked.

Alcohol and cigarettes have long been health concerns, and information 
about these and illegal substances are available on the AADAC website, 
www.aadac.ca.

Organized crime

Where drugs are, organized crime is involved, Albers said.

"Ninety-five per cent of the drug industry is controlled by organized crime 
and gangs. A lot of people selling drugs in our community are the pawns of 
these gangs. Our young people are being recruited by these groups."

He pointed out such situations could lead to gang attacks and even turf 
wars, should the situation get out of hand, but such a situation is far 
from the reality in this area.

"As a result of Operation Kleen Sweep, it has had what I feel to be an 
immediate impact on the drug industry in the area and a positive impact on 
the community as a whole. People know we're out here."

*Name has been changed to protect the source.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom