METH ADDICTS DRIVE UP CRIME RATE

Violent Crime Rise Sparked By Drug's Users, Police Argue

EDMONTON - Criminals addicted to the "demon" methamphetamine are
driving up Edmonton's violent crime rate by robbing corner stores and
committing other offences to support their habits, police say.

Violent crimes, including homicides, robberies and assaults, rose by
eight per cent in the first four months of 2003, according to new
police statistics.

Armed robberies increased by 40 per cent over this time last year.

"Without some explanation that would seem to be a dramatic rise, but I
can tell you that there's another demon in our midst in the form of
methamphetamines that we're seeing in the city," said police deputy
chief Michael Bradshaw.

"Virtually any of the people that we're arresting more recently that
are involved in commercial robberies have had problems, to say the
least, with addictions," Bradshaw told Edmonton's police commission
Wednesday.

Crimes against property, such as break and enters, also climbed 13 per cent
the first four months of this year.

Thefts rose 15 per cent, car thefts by 20 per cent. Break-ins at
homes, businesses and offices are up 11 per cent.

Bradshaw also blamed those increases on drug use.

"So much of the criminal activity that we see, property crime and
others, can be directly related to quantities of drugs in this city."

His remarks follow a call by northern Alberta mayors last week that
Ottawa track and strictly monitor the sale of chemicals that can be
mixed into methamphetamine, the illegal and highly addictive stimulant
better known as crank, crystal, or just plain meth.

Mayors of 20 cities and towns, including Edmonton Mayor Bill Smith,
called on the federal government to copy American legislation that
keeps tabs on who sells and buys large quantities of chemicals, such as
pseudoephedrine, ether and hydriodic acid, used to make the drug in
clandestine labs.

RCMP say the drug is spreading rapidly in northern Alberta.

In late May, Evansburg RCMP made what they call the biggest meth bust
in provincial history, finding four barrels with about 360 litres of
meth-making chemicals.

Police statistics released this week show the news isn't all bad for
Edmonton.

Criminal Code traffic offences fell overall by eight per cent.

Included in that was an eight-per-cent drop in driving while impaired
and an 11-per-cent decline in driving with blood-alcohol content over .08.