CRACK SPREADS TO RURAL CANADA, EXPERTS WARN

TORONTO (CP) - It's Not Just An Inner-City Drug Anymore.

Addictions experts from across the country say crack cocaine is fast
becoming a fixture in rural and small town Canada, and its users - many of
them addicts - are getting younger.

Crack, a cheaper form of cocaine usually associated with the back alleys of
major cities, has spread into small towns and cities in recent years, the
experts say, and its buyers are increasingly teenagers and people in their
twenties.

"The spread is quite dramatic," said Doug Smith, program co-ordinator of
Toronto East General's detox unit.

Smith, an addictions worker for 25 years, meets regularly with withdrawal
management units from Ontario, British Columbia and the Northwest
Territories.

The use of the drug has shot up both in Toronto and in small communities
across Ontario, he said, where it is having devastating effects not seen in
the city.

`Huge Increase'

"Small towns are seeing more violence, homelessness like they've never seen
before, poverty like they've never seen before," he said.

"There's been a huge increase in the use of crack cocaine in the last three
years. It is probably one of the most addictive drugs we've seen."

In Ontario, in 1994-95 there were 349 calls from people using to treatment
centres outside Ontario. In 1998-99, that number had almost doubled, rising
to 662, said Joyce Bernstein, an epidemiologist with Toronto public health.

The total number of crack-related calls from rural areas are likely even
higher, Bernstein said, because crack callers often say they're addicted to
cocaine. Calls about cocaine from places outside Toronto also shot up to
1,450 in 1998-99 from 878 in 1994-95.

Crack is manufactured by melting powder cocaine and adding baking soda, and
sometimes other substances such as kitchen cleanser. The mixture is cooled
and hardened into a "rock," which is smoked with a pipe and produces a high
that lasts 20 to 30 minutes. The cost is between $10 and $20 per hit.