ALBERTA CRACKED

No longer just for street junkies, crack is now a drug of
choice

In the past few years recovering Edmonton cocaine addict 'Justice' has
seen crack go from a "stigma drug" for destitute junkies to an
Albertan drug of choice.

"Crack used to be looked down upon - it was associated with slums and
crack-babies - now it's socially acceptable and it's being used by the
mainstream," said Justice, a member of Narcotics Anonymous.

"Cocaine used to be the drug of choice and heroin had the
stigma.

"Now people are buying cocaine so they can turn it into crack. It's
pretty expensive but that doesn't seem to stop people."

You can't get more mainstream than the public school system. And
that's where this highly addictive cocaine derivative is rearing its
ugly head, says drug abuse expert Dr. Louis Pagliaro.

"There's a lot of crack use in our province. It's near epidemic
proportion and there's not a typical crack user," Pagliaro, assistant
director of the University of Alberta's substance abusology research
unit, said. He has no doubt Edmonton students are using crack at school.

Crack is made by mixing cocaine with baking soda and is smoked in a
pipe as a white rock or powder. More addictive than coke, the drug hit
U.S. cities in the early 1980s and by the end of the decade was at
epidemic proportion. The U.S.-based Community Epidemiology Working
Group reported crack was a profitable way to sell cocaine to the
inner-city poor. While not as pure as coke, crack gave an immediate
and quick high and was being sold for as little $5 a hit.

'TERRIBLY ADDICTIVE'

Crack arrived in Edmonton in the early 1990s at the high price of $200
a gram. Since then it has gone down to $80 a gram and can be found on
virtually every street corner in the city, according to Edmonton
Police Service spokesman Annette Bidniak.

Dr. Pagliaro says the soaring popularity of crack in Alberta is due in
part to people being comfortable with smoking.

"At one time or another most people have had a puff of something,
whether it's been a cigarette or a joint.

"Smoking is a lot more appealing than snorting or injecting, which is
what heroin or cocaine users do," he added.

"The upside is it reduces the incidence of HIV among drug users, but
of course it's terribly addictive. You can consume more and it only
takes eight seconds to hit your brain compared to 20 seconds with
injection or snorting.

"It's more addictive because by smoking you can get more into your
system faster."

RCMP drug squad boss Staff Sgt. Doug Carruthers says cocaine comes
from South America, usually via Vancouver, to Alberta where it then
gets cooked into crack.

"We've got a street team and they're not having any trouble buying up
ounces of the stuff," Carruthers said. "We're paying between $1,300
and $1,400 an ounce. Small time users pay about $40 a half gram or $50
for a bag of rocks. It's what people are buying instead of cocaine
powder.

"We've got the same problems in towns like Fort McMurray and Grande
Prairie as we do in the city."

Alberta's only cocaine treatment centre, funded by the Alberta Alcohol
and Drug Abuse Commission and oil and gas companies, is in Grande Prairie.

No one seems too sure where the crack crisis will take Alberta. Last
September police busted an Edmonton-based Asian crime gang, charging
35 people with cocaine related offences.

But it has made no difference at street level.

"There's not a corner in the city you can't buy crack," Bidniak
said.

"There's no doubt it's soared in popularity and there are cook houses
all over the city.

"We've busted three this year but it hardly makes a dent - they just
start up again the very next day."

Bidniak paints a dim picture of crack addiction at street level. "Most
addicts need about seven grams a day and that's almost $600," she said.

"It's so much more addictive than other drugs. We've got hookers
downtown that will do a trick, go to their dealers, do another trick
then go straight back to the dealer.

"They are the victims of organized crime," Bidniak
said.

"The cocaine powder comes from outside Alberta. That gets sold to cook
houses that turn it into crack, then that goes to the dealers and the
dealers use runners. That's why organized crime is so
successful."

But with just 12 drug detectives working the streets of Edmonton,
fewer than 10 years ago, Bidniak doesn't hold much hope cops will stem
the flow. "We've made no appreciable difference."

And for Justice it's one day at a time, ever thankful he's out of the
loop.

"Addiction is an incurable disease. Your typical addict is an
egomaniac with low self-esteem. What drug use does is lead to
isolation. Now I'm no longer isolated and that's a great feeling."

"I was an active addict for 14 years, but I've been clean for one
year, three months and 14 days."