COCAINE, CRACK TRADE A GROWING PROBLEM

More People Seeking Addictions Treatment

WEDNESDAY'S seizure by police of a major amount of cocaine from a
Strathcona Street home has officers and addictions counsellors
alarmed about the steady growth of Winnipeg's cocaine and crack trade.

Documents obtained by the Free Press on the type and degree of
substance abuse in Winnipeg show that even though police are taking
more crack and cocaine off city streets than ever, the number of
people seeking addictions treatment for the drugs continues to rise,
especially among youth.

The as-yet-unreleased Canadian Community Epidemiology Network Report
on Drug Use report for 2006-2007 shows nearly 56 per cent of those
seeking treatment at the Addictions Foundation of Manitoba had used
cocaine or crack -- cocaine was second only to alcohol as the drug of
choice for AFM's more than 5,000 adult clients.

Among the nearly 2,000 youth seeking treatment through the AFM,
almost 35 per cent said they had used the drug, up 3.5 per cent from 2005-06.

The report also shows that police seized more than 85 pounds of crack
and cocaine combined in 2006, a "considerable increase" over past years.

Information released by police Thursday shows that the drugs just
keep coming -- in just the first two months of this year, they've
seized more than a quarter of what was seized in 2006 after a vehicle
search and raid of a Minto-area home Wednesday.

Police said they conducted a traffic stop on Wednesday near Ellice
Avenue and Century Street around 4:30 p.m., and after searching the
vehicle, found two kilos of cocaine and $30,000.

The seizure of the drugs and cash prompted the arrest of the two men
in the vehicle -- police then said their investigation led them to
search a home on Strathcona Street.

Inside the home they found another nine kilos of cocaine worth
$385,000 in tightly wrapped bricks, along with a small amount of
crack, $55,000 in cash and nearly 1.5 kilos of Benzocaine.

"It's an incredible seizure," said Const. Nick Paulet.

Three men, one 24 and the other two 22, face drug trafficking and
possession charges.

None of the men has a criminal record, and it's not known where the
drugs came from, police said.

Sgt. Darrin Kruger of the Winnipeg police street crime unit said the
Strathcona Street home was not a cocaine production facility, and
called the seizure "a little dent" in a much larger problem.

"There's a lot more in the city," Kruger added.

It's the second publicly-announced cocaine bust by city police in the
last two weeks.

On Feb. 16, police charged two men after they raided a home on
Partridge Avenue.

It's believed that house was a cocaine-production facility, as an
industrial press to press the drug into bricks was seized along with
more than $100,000 worth of the drug, along with marijuana, cash and
other drug agents.

Neither of the seizures is believed to be linked to organized crime
- -- which may indicate more people are willing to risk running their
own independent drug operations for a piece of the huge profits involved.

The sheer number of addicts on the streets is pushing up demand, Kruger said.

Brian Paterson of Tamarack, a West Broadway second-stage residential
drug treatment centre, said as many as 75 per cent of people coming
through their doors are s addicted to cocaine.

Paterson said he's seen the use of cocaine and crack become "firmly
entrenched" among Tamarack's clients in past years.

He said the drugs have taken hold in Winnipeg's inner-city, largely
due to how inexpensive and easy to get they are, either on the street
or through a "dial-a-dealer."

He added cocaine and crack addiction is compounded over generations
as addicts have children who become addicted in turn.

"Over a couple of generations it really adds up," Paterson said.