CRACK PLAGUE SIMPLY A CRIME

It's incredible to what depths people can fall once caught in the
addictive grip of crack cocaine.

Crimes are committed daily in our city by individuals who might
otherwise be productive citizens, all because of the overwhelming draw
crack cocaine has on them.

The most recent, glaring example of this tragic phenomenon is the case
of Shannondoe Best.

Best, 47, was sentenced last week to the equivalent of a three-year
penitentiary term for a series of despicable crimes. She preyed on
people's generosity by posing as a cancer canvasser and spun tales of
personal woe to gain the sympathy -- and eventually cash -- of victims
who could ill afford to hand out money.

Among her targets was one man who was battling terminal cancer
himself, another who gave money to Best on the day his wife was
undergoing a mastectomy when the heartless con claimed she, too, was
suffering from breast cancer and a third who had lost his wife to the
disease months earlier.

Best also told other lies to gain people's sympathies, claiming among
her litany of falsehoods she had lost relatives to cancer and had a
grandchild dying from the disease.

But Best wasn't always that way, defence lawyer Tonii Roulston told
court. Until just a few years ago she was like any average Calgarian,
working as a practical nurse and enjoying a stable
relationship.

But when her marriage broke down, Best fell in with the wrong crowd
and succumbed to the overpowering lure of crack and the escape it provided.

Two years ago, the law finally caught up with her and she was
convicted of 22 counts of fraud, possession of a stolen credit card
and personation with intent, for the same types of cons she is now
serving time for.

In August 2006, she was given the equivalent of an 18-month sentence
after spending nine months on remand, and placed on probation for 18
months.

Apparently crack's lure was too strong for Best to have learned from
that lesson. While still on probation she began conning people again
- -- going door-to-door swindling generous Calgarians.

As Crown prosecutor Susan Mulligan noted in an agreed statement of
fact at Best's sentencing, her crimes have had a ripple effect on the
community.

"Almost all of the victims have indicated that they no longer trust
people seeking charitable donations and will be reluctant to give to
charitable organizations in the future," Mulligan wrote. "Many of the
victims of the frauds were vulnerable and elderly."

In all, Best swindled nearly $23,000, money which was soon burned away
at the end of a crack pipe.

She certainly doesn't deserve our sympathy -- after all her crimes
were some of the most reprehensible one can commit without causing
actual physical harm.

But as a society, we cannot ignore this plague at our doorstep. All
crack cocaine addicts are someone's son, daughter, mother, brother or
other relative.

Clearly, much needs to be done to attempt to eradicate this problem
from our neighbourhoods.

But while government agencies, the police and even the courts have
their roles to play, we can't forget our individual
responsibilities.

Turning one's back on a relative in need, or ignoring a potential
problem in order to avoid possible conflict is often the catalyst to
creating a drug addict.

It's incumbent on parents and peers of those who might be susceptible
to crack use and ultimately abuse to act as a first line of defence
against the disease of addiction.

By the time many of these individuals come into contact with state
organizations designed to deal with the problem -- be it police,
court, or social agencies -- the damage is often done.

In the case of Shannondoe Best, it obviously was.