Pubdate: Fri, 16 Feb 2007
Source: Inuvik Drum (CN NT)
Copyright: 2007 Northern News Services
Contact:  http://www.nnsl.com/inuvik/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/4239
Author: Dez Loreen
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/coke.htm (Cocaine)

FOR THOSE ABOUT TO ROCK

Seriously, I think it's high time that we stand up as a community and 
give the boot to crack dealers in town.

These people come to Inuvik with a suitcase full of cocaine and a 
hunger for money. It must be the easiest job in the world to sit by 
the phone and wait for the business to roll in. In an industry where 
the product moves itself, any greedy, selfish person can become a crack dealer.

We need to take a proactive approach to this situation. We cannot 
wait for the police to step up and make another "large" bust. 
Pre-empt the RCMP and make some phone calls. Send anonymous tips to 
the detachment. I've been told that is how our system works.

People who attended those meetings last year about the crack problem 
are still waiting for results. Well guess what? You are the ones who 
should be blamed. If you claim to know who these dealers are, then 
rat them out.

Every crack dealer in this town is an outsider looking to score some 
easy money from the weak, addicted people in the North. If you are a 
crack dealer from in town, you just became an outsider.

I'd like to ask a crack dealer what he or she wants from this life. 
I'd like to know what he wanted to be as a kid and how his mother 
must feel about his career choice.

As much as I want to, I cannot leave all the blame with the dealer.

After all, it's called supply and demand. Just because he brought 
some rocks up North on the plane does not mean you have to buy them.

Problems like this only go away when people in the community stand up 
and admit they have a problem. If they can't stop, there is no reason 
for the dealers to leave.

I don't think people in Inuvik are taking this problem seriously. 
Maybe they didn't attend that meeting because they don't know anyone 
addicted to crack.

Well hey, every addict is someone's family. If you have not been 
affected by crack yet, you may be soon.

People get curious. It's our nature to question the world around us 
and try new things. Now, if we could push crack dealers out of town, 
there would be no temptation for kids to try crack.

Part of the power of cocaine, crack, speed or any other chemical is 
the physical addiction. You cannot control it even if you want to. It 
starts with a harmless sample at a party, and eventually you're 
flushing entire paycheques down the toilet.

If you are battling an addiction to crack, please get help. Talk to 
your family about it. Let them know that you plan on beating this.

By being an addict and giving these crack dealers a reason to keep 
coming back to the land of the midnight sun, you are a big part of the problem.

I have faith in the people here in Inuvik. Rather than boot out all 
the addicts in town to starve the dealers' demand, maybe we should 
just deal with the crack merchants.

By giving a dealer your money for a gram of rock, you just sealed 
that guy's fate. Instead of learning a useful trade or finding a 
career, this person is making it rich in life by feeding off people's weakness.

He could have been a pilot or he might have been a good basketball 
player, but someone hooked him up with a sweet gig, selling cocaine 
to Northerners.

Can we just put everything else on hold and fix this? I think it's 
time to put the pipe away and crack down on rock.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom