'GET OUT,' MAYOR TELLS DRUG USERS, PUSHERS

Community Urged To Help Police After Rash Of Murders

EDMONTON - Drug pushers and their patrons aren't welcome here, Mayor Bill
Smith said Thursday in an ultimatum prompted by a string of 14 fatal
drug-related shootings since 2002.

Smith issued an impassioned appeal to everyone -- from the ordinary citizen
to the premier himself -- to do their part to eradicate the increasingly
deadly narcotics trade.

"To those people who seek profit from the drug trade and to those who
support the drug trade by purchasing drugs, get out of Edmonton and get out
of Alberta," Smith said.

"The call for action is for everybody to realize it's everybody's problem,
and it's going to require everybody to help with the solution. The police
can only do so much."

The most recent violent flare-up tied to the drug trade occurred early
Wednesday morning. Richard Avinash Prasad, 17, was shot in the chest in
what police described as a drug deal gone bad.

He was the third young man to die violently in the city in the last four weeks.

"I've watched this grow," Smith said. "But one of my main concerns is I
don't want this community or this province or this country to slide into
complacency that some level is acceptable."

In his unexpected news conference, Smith called on judges to impose tougher
penalties, the government of Canada to keep marijuana illegal, educators to
have zero tolerance for drugs in schools and parents to watch their
children for changes in behaviour.

He also called on the premier and solicitor general to give police the
resources they need to wipe out the drug trade in Alberta, service
organizations to help with anti-drug education programs and recreational
drug users to stop dabbling in substances that support organized crime.

"All of us need to declare war on drugs in Alberta and Canada and we need
to support the police right across this country," Smith said.

Deputy police chief Mike Bradshaw said police welcomed the mayor's
comments. Police fight illegal activity, but without help from others, the
fight against drugs and gangs will be lost, he said.

"The police won't be able to handle it simply using suppression," Bradshaw
said. "Intervention and prevention play a massive role."

But Ken Giroux Sr., whose son Eleazor died Sept. 24 after being shot in the
back of the head, said Smith's call for drug dealers to leave town simply
won't work.

"It's an almost impossible thing to do because when one moves out, another
moves in," Giroux Sr. said.

He blamed his own three-decade history of drug dealing, ending in 1990, for
his son's death. Other members of Eleazor's family denied he was involved
with drugs. The police gang unit is involved in the investigation of his
murder.

Giroux Sr. said drug dealers are focused exclusively on money and aren't
going to be influenced by Smith's desire to expel them. Tougher penalties
won't work either, he said, because the rewards are so lucrative.

It is more important to focus on prevention, he said.

"I think it all comes down to education, and there is no other way."

Coun. Michael Phair also said telling people to leave won't have any impact.

"There isn't any question we need to look for ways to prevent the activity
that's going on, but I think that needs to happen at local levels," Phair said.

He said it's hard for the city to do anything about hard drugs getting into
Alberta and Edmonton, a job better suited, he said, to the provincial and
federal governments.

But the city can encourage communities to get together and talk about
preventing and dealing with drug problems locally, Phair said.

Coun. Terry Cavanagh also disagreed with commanding drug pushers and users
to leave the province.

"I don't want to send them to another province. Let's get rid of it here."

Cavanagh said the city already does a pretty good job of funding the police
service, and more money should come from the province to help deal with
drug-related court cases, which tie up officers who could otherwise be on
the streets.

He also said it is up to police to find out if other cities have successful
strategies for dealing with drug problems. The province should also
consider more treatment programs for addicts, he said.