DRUG TRAGEDIES

Thieves will steal anything that isn't tied down, the saying used to go.

These days even the stuff that's seemingly secured isn't safe.

Petty metal items considered inconsequential to most of us are sought
by vandals who usually turn their booty into quick cash for a quick drug fix.

Once they get their hands on a few dollars' worth of copper or brass,
druggies parlay it into a high on crystal meth or crack.

The incident in which as much as 14,000 litres of oil was spilled
last week at the B.C. Hydro substation on Pickering Road is,
presumably, one such case.

As reported by The Citizen's Frank Peebles on Wednesday, someone
broke into the compound and removed about a dozen brass fittings
which secured oil inside a transformer. An expensive, taxpayer-funded
cleanup operation has begun, all for about $10 worth of brass barrel nuts.

Prices on the scrap metal market in Canada have grown recently, and
so, correspondingly, have thefts of scrap metal.

This is by no means the first such theft in Prince George. It isn't
even the first at the Pickering Road substation.

In late August, a 39-year-old man's skin and hair were left at the
scene when he was zapped with 12,000 volts while attempting to steal
copper wiring and piping from the substation.

In July, properties at the BCR Industrial Site were vandalized for
copper wire. A string of thefts of large bundles of cable around
Prince George was reported by police last May. Metal highway
guardrails have also been unbolted and attempted to be sold as scrap.

Construction and work sites where metal is stored are popular targets.

But it takes another level of desperation, and stupidity, to break
into a juiced-up B.C. Hydro substation in search of a score.

This is, in no small measure, illustrative of the depth of this
city's and region's drug scene.

In fact, two other stories on Wednesday's front page are steeped in
drugs. First is the horrifying story of a two-year-old child in
Quesnel who was taken into the care of the province after ingesting cocaine.

The other story detailed police seizing a cache of suspected stolen
electronics gear and other items from a home on Quince Street, where
police also found evidence of drug use.

Police have long held that most residential break, enter and thefts
are fuelled by addicts' need for drugs.

Law enforcement is fighting a losing battle. Police do their best to
take offenders off the street, but they're often back in no time and
there are always others to take their place.

The underlying problem isn't theft and vandalism, it's drug addiction.

Society can throw as many police officers as it wants at the
situation, but things won't improve until these addicts become former
addicts. And there are scant facilities and resources available to
rescue addicts who want to get off and, more importantly, stay off.

What's missing is a long-term commitment at the highest government
levels to treat addicts and attempt to turn them into productive citizens.

The proliferation of inexpensive, addictive drugs affects everyone to
some degree. It's time for a concerted effort aimed at long-term
rehabilitation, because the approach taken so far has been a dismal failure.

- -- Editor Dave Paulson