Pubdate: Mon, 21 May 2007 Source: Edmonton Sun (CN AB) Copyright: 2007 Canoe Limited Partnership. Contact: http://www.edmontonsun.com Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/135 Author: Andrew Hanon, Edmonton Sun ONE RESIDENT SAYS IT'S NOT SO BAD WILDWOOD -- When asked about a wave of burglaries and thefts paralyzing his hometown, Don Yuhasz paused for a minute, then smiled. "I think you're being lied to," he said. "It's not that bad here." Yuhasz acted horrified last week when Sun Media knocked on the door of his decrepit trailer and asked him about some of his neighbours' accusations that he lives in one of the hamlet's notorious drug dens. "I don't allow hard drugs in my house," the 48-year-old replied. Yuhasz, who's paralyzed from the chest down from a car accident nearly 20 years ago, acknowledged that he's an enthusiastic marijuana user, and that in the past he sold it, but added emphatically that "nothing manmade (like crack or crystal meth) should be allowed." He acknowledged that there are some hardcore drug addicts in town and said they are responsible for almost all the crime in Wildwood. Yuhasz said he was deeply hurt that anyone in Wildwood would think anything he did contributed to the crime problem. "I thought everyone here likes me," he said. A young mother and former crystal meth user, who moved back to Wildwood last year to raise her family, said that while a huge proportion of young adults and teens in town are drug users, she could "count on one hand" the addicts who are so out of control that they resort to theft to feed their habits. The mid-twenties woman, who asked not to be identified, said that within days of returning to her birthplace last summer, she was approached several times and offered drugs. The woman, who now attends 12-step meetings, said she wants to raise her family here, but worries about her kids being exposed to so much drug abuse. "I'm worried about this town," she said. "I don't want my kids to grow up and go through the same crap I did." - --- MAP posted-by: Derek