Pubdate: Mon, 01 Jan 2007
Source: Maclean's Magazine (Canada)
Copyright: 2007 Maclean Hunter Publishing Ltd.
Contact:  http://www.macleans.ca/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/253
Author: Alexandra Shimo
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/coke.htm (Cocaine)

UPSCALE CRACK

Oil Workers And Bankers Are Its New Victims, Not The Down-And-Out

While working as an engineer in Alberta's oil and gas fields, Brent, 
34 (he requested that his last name not be used), started smoking 
crack. Like most of those who try the drug, he had already 
experimented with other drugs -- alcohol and marijuana. But after 
just a few short puffs of the white drug-laced smoke, he had a very 
expensive and destructive habit.

Crack is made by adding cocaine to baking soda and water, cooking and 
cooling the mixture until rocks develop. Although it has a reputation 
for being a cheap high for the down-and-out, the reality is 
increasingly different, say drug counsellors across the country. The 
illicit substance is becoming the drug of choice across social 
milieus, says Jodi Dahlgren, a substance abuse therapist at Serenity 
House Drug & Alcohol Treatment Centre in Calgary. Dahlgren has 
treated bankers, oil workers and CEOs with crack addiction problems. 
"I used to work at Main and Hastings in Vancouver, but I've never 
seen anything this bad. I never thought I'd be treating millionaires 
with crack addictions."

Brent is typical of this new class of addict. Like many users, he 
burned through a lot of money on crack. Although the exact amount is 
hard to estimate -- he still hasn't tallied how much he spent on 
hotel rooms alone to host drug-fuelled parties -- the figure is at 
least $250,000, which includes the remortgaging of his home and 
several thousand dollars in RSPs. "I feel terrible for the girls we 
were partying with," he says remorsefully. "They were good girls from 
middle-class homes. Some of them were still going to high school."

The latest statistics, while they don't distinguish between crack and 
cocaine in its powder form, suggest the drug is the second-most 
popular single illicit substance after cannabis. More than 14 per 
cent of males reported having tried it; and 10.6 per cent of the 
total population, according to the Canadian Addiction Survey 
published in March 2005. In Alberta, 12.3 per cent of those surveyed 
had tried it.

Brent never found it hard to get hold of the drug. Indeed, for 
upscale addicts, door-to-door delivery is more common than scoring at 
a crack house, he says. Part of its growing popularity is this 
accessibility, says Melanie Alsager, an administrator at Sunshine 
Coast Health Centre, a private facility in Powell River, 120 km north 
of Vancouver that treats drug addicts and alcoholics from across 
North America. In most Canadian cities, buying crack is almost as 
easy as purchasing a loaf of bread, she says. "If you know what to 
look for, you can go into the downtown of any city in Canada, and 
find the crack house within 10 minutes."

Price is the other reason for crack's popularity, says Ruth 
Weinberger, addictions counsellor and group facilitator at Project 
Pride, a drug crisis centre in Montreal. "Crack has gone from $140 
ten years ago to $15 to $20 a rock today. It costs about the same as 
smoking a joint. We are seeing a glut of it on the market. We don't know why."

One neighbourhood that has begun to bear the brunt of this glut is 
Toronto's Kensington Market. It's home to artisans and hipsters such 
as CBC Radio host Sook-Yin Lee, but a recent rise in crack use has 
hurt residents, crime rates and businesses. The problem surfaced in 
the spring, worsened throughout the summer, and is still pretty bad, 
says Eric Yule, chair of the Kensington Market Emergency Safety Task 
Force, which was set up in September to respond to the issue. Some 
local shops and businesses saw their sales fall between 40 and 50 per 
cent. Petty crime increased -- breaking and enterings have spiked 16 
per cent since the previous year. Like most neighbourhoods struggling 
with the consequences of cheap and plentiful crack, it's difficult 
for residents to know how exactly to eliminate the problem. After the 
spike in burglaries, and several assaults, some were afraid of openly 
taking action against the dealers in case they were targeted, says 
James Maskalyk, an emergency doctor who lives in the area.

Neal Berger is the executive director of Cedars at Cobble Hill, on 
Vancouver Island north of Victoria, which treated Brent's addiction 
and helped him return to work in the oil and gas industry. Berger 
says that while "there is so much energy and political capital 
looking at the business of crystal meth, crack is a much bigger 
issue. When you think of the problems it causes families, businesses 
and industry, it doesn't get nearly the exposure it deserves." 
Addiction specialist Dr. Graeme Cunningham agrees. "It's available 
and cheap," says Cunningham, regional medical director for Homewood 
Health Centre in Guelph and professor of psychiatry at McMaster 
University. "If you go to Toronto's downtown core, you can score it 
in five minutes. The problem is that it's very much in fashion at the 
moment. It's become popular among the younger crowd."
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MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman