BIG CITY DRUG NOW AVAILABLE IN OUR NEIGHBOURHOODS

Crack cocaine is easily scored on the streets of Greater Sudbury.
Even high school students are using it. That's frightening, says
Peter Orsino, head of the joint forces drug unit for Greater Sudbury
Police. This highly addictive drug destroys lives. Crack addicts can
go through $100 in 20 minutes. Users will do anything to get money
for their next high. Northern Life's Keith Lacey reports.

The drug addict and the cop agree on one thing - the temporary
euphoria of crack is quickly replaced by despair, addiction and destruction.

"This is a drug that quite literally destroys your life," says Peter
Orsino, head of the joint forces drug unit for Greater Sudbury Police.

Addict Joey O'Connor (not his real name) puts it another way.

"You might as well put a gun in your mouth," said O'Connor. "It's
that bad...this stuff is so addictive and causes so much grief and
destruction, I can't put it into words."

O'Connor, 47, has been a hard core drug addict for more than 30
years. He started abusing alcohol and drugs as a teenager. He became
addicted to methamphetamine (speed) at the age of 17.

Five years ago, he took his first hit from a crack pipe and has
watched a difficult life fall apart since then.

"I used needles all my life, but that was becoming socially
unacceptable, even among drug addicts," he said. "I can remember my
first hit of a crack pipe like it was yesterday. I took one puff and
that was it.

"It was unbelievable...despite all the drugs I've done, I never felt
a high like that before."

Users never get that high again although they keep trying. The
effects of crack last only 10 to 20 minutes, and addicts want more
and more. The craving never goes away.

"Crack is so addictive you can't handle it. You get hooked almost
right away. You wouldn't believe the amount of grief and pain I've
seen caused by this drug in this city over the last five years."

Within the past two years, crack cocaine has gone from a fringe
problem involving maybe a couple dozen addicts to one starting to
spiral out of control in Greater Sudbury, said Peter Orsino, head of
the joint forces drug unit for Greater Sudbury Police.

Because it's relatively cheap-a small piece for $10 will get you
high-more and more people are trying it. Drug gangs from Toronto
have infiltrated Greater Sudbury because there are huge profits to be
made, said Orsino.

It's not unusual for an addict to spend anywhere from $500 to $2,000
a day, said Orsino.

O'Connor, 47, agreed to talk to Northern Life openly about Sudbury's
crack cocaine underworld if he was paid $40. Our decision to pay a
source was not taken lightly, and we did so because we believed his
story was important.

At the time of this interview, he hadn't eaten a "real meal" in four
days. His face was pale, eyes withdrawn, but his mind and speech were clear.

He didn't hold back when talking about the drug he believes will kill him.

He has numerous medical problems, most caused by constant drug use,
and his body weight is very low.

Despite years of constant drug abuse, O'Connor, a father of five, is
articulate and thinks deeply before answering questions.

He said while he believes it is too late for him to get help, his
life will not be wasted if he can prevent young people from getting
addicted to crack and other hard drugs.

"I don't have long left to live," he said matter-of-factly. "My only
goal is to try to talk to young people who are already involved (with
crack) and tell them to straighten out before it's too late.

"I spend most of my time at crack houses and I try and make sure the
addicts don't get roughed up and aren't victims of violence. When I'm
around, the dealers have a lot of respect for me and I try to make
sure no one gets hurt."

The need for more drugs is so strong, most addicts can't work and
resort to crime, he said.

"You totally forget how to care about people...you forget how to
love," he said. "Your only concern is getting enough money to get
high again and if that means lying or stealing or prostituting
yourself, then that's what an addict will do."

Since becoming a crack addict five years ago, O'Connor said he's been
rushed to hospital numerous times with overdoses, been shot at and
stabbed more than once.

"I've flirted with death on many occasions," said O'Connor. "How I'm
still around after all I've been through is often a mystery to me."

The only time O'Connor managed to stay clean in the past 30 years was
a two-year stint in the early 1990s. He got a volunteer position
helping other addicts.

"It was unbelievable how good those two years were," he said. "I was
helping people and I wasn't seeing the constant grief, death and
chaos that's been such a big part of my life all these years."

The level of degradation and debasement a crack addict will resort to
is mind-boggling, he said.

"I've seen addicts dig through the pockets of dead people. I've seen
people turn over their car ownership just so they can get high for
one more night. I've seen mothers drag around their babies to crack
houses at all hours of the morning. It's sickening."

Unlike its powdered cousin, crack cocaine is more insidious because
it's even more addictive and dealers know it, said O'Connor.

"The drug gangs from Toronto are up here in droves," he said. "I know
one dealer who bragged about making $100,000 in one week.

"These guys are absolutely ruthless. Many of them wear bulletproof
vests and they're carrying guns. It's become a real epidemic in this
city over the past year or two and it's only getting worse.

"I can honestly tell you I know 50 people who have got hooked on this
stuff in the past year and everyone one of them had good jobs and
most had families and they've basically lost everything because of crack."

Typically, dealers congregate around low-income housing projects and
in areas where there are a number of addicts.

Dealers will offer some crack free of charge, get someone hooked and
they will then run up a huge bill and use that person's residence to
run a "crack house," usually only for a few days at a time, he said.

"Then they leave with tens of thousands of dollars in their pockets.
Most of these guys don't use themselves because they are in it
strictly for the money. The amount of money that can be made in a
short period of time is unbelievable."

Orsino said O'Connor isn't exaggerating.

"Here's a drug where you get this incredible, euphoric high for maybe
$10, but once you're addicted and your tolerance builds, you need
more and more," he said.

"Most addicts I know tell me they can go through $100 in 20 minutes
and many of them keep up that pace for days on end."

The term "chasing the dragon" has been used to describe crack cocaine
addiction as users never achieve recreating that first hit from a crack pipe.

"Initially, users feel like they're superman and they feel great,"
Orsino said. "However, like with all hard drugs, the euphoria goes
away and you need more and more to get a strong high and eventually
the only thing you think about is getting another score."

Crack addicts invariably resort to criminal activity, he said.

"Eventually they just don't care how they get the money," he said.

Normally, they lie to borrow and steal from family and friends, then
engage in "white collar crime" writing bad cheques and then resort to
break and enters and other property crimes, he said.

Dealers are drawn from big cities to smaller communities such as
Greater Sudbury because they can make more money here.

"The problem is so prevalent in Toronto and there's so much crack
available, the dealers can only get a certain price," Orsino said.
"These same dealers are now coming north knowing they can charge a
lot more than they could ever get in Toronto.

"It's all gang-related stuff and very organized and that's why we
have our work cut out for us as police officers."

Greater Sudbury is also the largest city in Northern Ontario and
while the dealers come here first, the problem is spreading to all
cities and towns across the north, said Orsino.

Crack cocaine is a rare drug that attracts as many female consumers
as male. Orsino estimates more than 60 percent of prostitutes in
Greater Sudbury are crack cocaine addicts.

The scariest part of this scourge is the number of young people
willing to try and get high from crack, said Orsino.

"Hard core drugs are in our high schools and crack cocaine is leading
the way and that's frightening," he said. "This is a drug that quite
literally destroys your life."

The joint forces drug unit is concentrating on prevention and
education initiatives and there are plans underway to bring
recovering crack addicts into local high schools to try and dissuade
young people from ever considering trying a hit from a crack pipe, he said.

Having quality rehabilitation programs in place are also crucial and
the federal government has to start putting more money into programs
to provide care for those who want to beat hard drug addictions, he said.

Police also know catching, arresting and putting high-end drug
dealers behind bars is crucial, said Orsino.

"If we can reduce the supply and have these dealers looking over
their shoulders and make some serious arrests, then we can make their
business so unattractive, they might consider another way to make a
living," he said. "Going in and out of jail is not what these guys
get into the drug dealing business for."

Members of the public who see a large congregation of people coming
and going from the same residence night after night should not be
afraid to contact police, said Orsino.

"We're shutting down more and more of these crack houses, but we need
the public's help," he said.