TEENS RECRUITED AS PUSHERS

Dialing For Dope

High schools have become a breeding ground for gangs looking for new
employees for their dial-a-dope operations.

Vancouver police drug squad Det. Jim Fisher said children as young
as 14 are often recruited to push drugs, with money and peer
pressure being used as motivation.

"They're pretty good recruiters," said Fisher. "They want kids that
are loyal and hard working and they know all they have to do is
flash those rolls of money. That's the biggest selling point."

Like any good boss, Fisher said dial-a-dopers make sure their crew
is happy and productive by flashing incentives such as clothes,
money, and taking them out to restaurants.

It's not just in the inner city where kids are being recruited into
the drug underworld.

Like dial-a-dope operations themselves, the people involved may not
necessarily fit the stereotype of a drug dealer.

"It's not a low-class eastside thing where everyone is a
'raggedy-assed gangster,'" said Fisher. "We once busted a typical
looking suburban student who had a book called Wealth Without Risk
in Canada in his car. All kinds of people get caught up in it."

A former dial-a-doper, using the alias Malachi, told 24 hours once
you're in the game, it's hard to get out.

"It's tough. The fast-paced lifestyle and money grab you," he said.
"Where else are you going to make so much easy money? And if you're
a good reliable worker there is a lot of pressure on you to stay."