HOOKERS, JOHNS COST REGION'S TAXPAYERS $100M

Waterloo Region's diseased, crack-addicted hookers and the men who pay them
for sex will end up costing taxpayers at least $100 million, a researcher
warned yesterday.

Tim Rafferty, who helped research and write a $15,000 study on the local
sex trade, said the cost is a rough estimate provided by health, social
service and police officials.

Rafferty, speaking to members of the region's community services committee,
said a large chunk of the $100 million will be spent providing AIDS
treatment and other health services for hundreds of johns who continue to
have unprotected sex with 20 to 35 local hookers.

He said it also includes the loss of income for hookers and johns as well
as expensive long-term health costs, therapy and treatment to help women
beat their chronic addiction to crack cocaine.

In addition, researchers added the cost of police, courts and prison time
served by those in the sex trade.

Rafferty said each local prostitute spends between $500 and $1,500 a night
on crack cocaine.

That adds up to millions of local dollars spent on drugs which end up in
the pockets of Toronto-area drug suppliers.

"One absolutely terrifying thing we found among women we interviewed was
the absence of safe sex and medical checks," he said. "HIV is rampant ...
there are no checks and that's being passed on to johns who then pass it on
to their partners at home."

Rafferty said local prostitutes mostly work around King and Cedar streets
in downtown Kitchener but will also go to Cambridge and Waterloo.

He said the women, who were addicted to crack cocaine before they became
hookers, also frequent truck-stop restaurants and local crackhouses.

The study - Between a Rock and Hard Place - was conducted after several
downtown Kitchener communities were plagued by street hookers and cruising
johns.

The report was partly financed by johns who were caught by police and given
the option of attending a local john school instead of going to jail.

Researchers found hookers use condoms less than half the time and are
exposed to a variety of sexual diseases.

Rafferty told committee members more has to be done to send outreach
workers to meet hookers because they either don't know about existing
support services or don't trust police, social workers and authority figures.

Questioned by regional Councillor Jane Mitchell, Rafferty said hookers live
throughout the region but come to the King-Cedar area to conduct business.

He told committee chairman Sean Strickland there seems to be a constant
supply of crack cocaine for the women. Rafferty said researchers who
interviewed hookers found that some carried pagers and were very busy.

"Often, we could only talk to them for a few minutes before the pager would
go and they would be off to meet another guy," he said. "They earn big
money and don't have any problem paying for all the crack they need."

Study authors urged regional officials to do more to educate hookers about
support services, work with them to beat drug addiction and help them find
affordable housing away from downtown cores and drug dealers.

Committee members asked staff to consider the recommendations and report
back Dec. 4 about what can be done by the region.