FIGHTING A GROWING PROBLEM

RNC Wants To Double Its Drug Team This Year To Combat Serious Issue

A woman walking on a residential street in St. John's has her purse
snatched.

A Queen's Road convenience store clerk has a knife pointed in his face
by a masked man demanding cash.

A man assaults his girlfriend on the front yard of their Cowan Heights
home.

Police suspect these crimes, and many others like it, are linked.

Why?

In a word - drugs.

The drug market in this province - particularly on the Northeast
Avalon - has become so big, the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary hopes
to double its drug enforcement team to combat the problem.

"It's definitely increasing," RNC Chief Joe Browne said. "It's a
lucrative market."

Drug use has gotten so widespread that buying drugs on the street is
almost as easy as buying a cup of coffee.

Police say organized drug rings and grow operations are more
prevalent, and stronger drugs have swept the province.

"There are big bucks to be made, and that's what drives it," Browne
said.

But while police try to dismantle larger operations, easy access to
drugs has meant an increase in other crimes, such as armed robbery,
break-ins, theft and assault.

A glance at the cases at provincial court in St. John's shows a
lengthy list of people charged with such crimes every day.

Often, Browne said, the crimes are committed by addicts who need quick
money to buy drugs to feed their habit.

"A large portion of (these crimes) have drugs as the cause," Browne
said. "Drug use is certainly an underlying theme."

Sgt. Marlene Jesso - who is in charge of the RNC's drug unit - said
cocaine has become the most popular drug, having slowly filtered its
way into the province from Western Canada.

"Cocaine is rampant here within the Northeast Avalon now," said Jesso,
who added the drugs come into the province by courier, truck, plane,
boat and mail.

"The thing with drugs is that for traffickers, it's big dollars. The
profit margin is huge and it's easy to sell."

She said LSD, as well as marijuana - which was the most sought-after
drug 10 years ago - continues to be popular, with marijuana grow-ops
popping up regularly.

Ecstasy is "huge," she said, while prescription drugs like OxyContin
and Percocet have resurfaced after a crackdown in the late 1990s.

"We're seeing everything," Jesso said. "It's just unbelievable."

The reasons for increased drug use vary, but Jesso believes it is a
downside of the province's prosperity.

"With everything, and the way the Newfoundland and Labrador is growing
. it's an ever-increasing trend," Jesso said, "and we'll continue to
see more drugs."

The increase in so-called "frequent-flyer jobs" has also increased the
importation of drugs to this province, police say.

"(Sometimes) it's the people who leave the province, obtain work in
another province and return home with money in their pockets and time
on their hands," Jesso said.

"These people are coming back and forth and they are probably bring in
drugs, too, in all ways, shapes and forms.

"And once people start, it's hard to stop."

It can result in serious addictions.

The few substance-abuse programs and rehabilitation clinics available
on the Avalon are in high demand.

"People who become addicted to the drugs become the victims and
they're the ones who carry out the crimes and they create other
victims," Jesso said.

"Every person who is addicted to drugs is not a criminal in the sense
of breaking and entering, or hurting people, but it affects their
lives and affects their families' lives.

"It has a huge effect the communities, neighbourhoods, and we're doing
our best to curb that."

Police have made some inroads, Jesso said, including several major
drug seizures.

The biggest was Operation Roadrunner - the result of an 18-month
investigation - in which police raided 11 homes in St. John's last
fall and seized 51 pounds of marijuana, 19 pounds of cocaine, $300,000
in cash, six motor vehicles, weapons and laptop computers.

Eleven men and one woman were arrested and charged with trafficking in
cocaine and marijuana.

"That was the biggest," Jesso said. "These organized rings are
becoming more prevalent. More people are becoming involved. The drug
trafficking, itself, entails a lot of money."

Officers have also busted several marijuana grow-ops and clandestine
drug labs.

Jesso admits such seizures only temporarily halt traffickers.

"There's so much out there and we're just skimming the surface,
really," she said.

"Every neighbourhood has somebody selling drugs, unfortunately, and we
can only do so much and we have to prioritize and take each one
individually."

Browne agrees.

"We've helped interrupt it for a period of time, but we're under no
illusion that we stopped it," the chief said.

"We took a big bite out of it and slowed it down, but they will
recover, unfortunately, and they will be back in business. They are
back in business."

Both Browne and Jesso say one of the keys to cracking the drug
problem, is education.

The RNC has a full-time drug education co-ordinator - Const. Steve
Knight, who travels the district promoting drug awareness.

Community service groups, such as Choices for Youth and Turnings, an
addictions organization, also help to combat the drug problem.

"You can't educate enough," Jesso said, "getting into the schools and
talking to the youth."

She contends an RNC education campaign was key in helping slow the
arrival of at least one drug - crystal meth, or methamphetamine - into
this province.

However, she concedes it's likely only a matter of time before crystal
meth is big here.

"That is like no drug we've ever seen before," she said.

"The side-effects and the problems are unreal. We're hearing it's
here."

The powerful, highly addictive drug speeds up the central nervous
system.

Its presence on the street has kept the police drug-enforcement team
hopping.

"You're lucky you got to see me today," Jesso said.

"We could work 24/7. It's overwhelming at times, there's so much to
deal with, but we're only human and we can only take it bit by bit and
day by day. We do have to prioritize and do what we can with the
amount of people we have."

Jesso and Browne said doubling the size of the drug enforcement team
would go a long way towards combatting the problem.

Browne said the RNC has made a formal budget request to the provincial
government to obtain more resources for drug enforcement.

"It would give us twice the capacity to actively deal with drug and
addiction, so hopefully, we'll get support for that," Browne said.

"We're aware of it and the Department of Justice is certainly aware of
it and collectively we're working to try to stay a step ahead of it,
or at least being able to respond to it quickly."

Until then, police will rely on the work of its street patrol
officers, who make the initial arrests, and help from the public in
identifying drug problems in their neighbourhoods.

"It's an everyday battle, but it's one we'll continue to fight," Jesso
said.

"We have to try to stay on top of it."