TROUBLED TEENS LURED TO CITY'S DARK SIDE

The pressure teens like Alexander Xavier Smith face growing up in a
neighbourhood full of drug dealers lures many kids his age into
Edmonton's dark side, says a city street expert.

JoAnn McCartney, a former Edmonton vice cop, said teenagers who start
as users can find themselves striking up relationships with drug
dealers, who masterfully exploit them.

"The group likes them. They fit in," she said.

Smith's friends have told Sun Media that they heard Smith had started
doing drugs in the months before his death last summer.

The 14-year-old's body was discovered in a farmer's field near Fort
Saskatchewan on Aug. 25.

He went missing from his grandmother's home June 28 in Edmonton's
Beverly neighbourhood.

McCartney could not comment on Smith's case.

But she said dealers become unsavoury role models with their money and
cars, especially to teens growing up in poverty.

The teens may be given drugs at a dealer's party, only to be told
later that they owe money for drugs they thought were free.

If they can't afford to pay up, McCartney said teens can become drug
"mules" or couriers, allowing dealers to avoid getting caught doing
business themselves.

Teen victims may increase their drug use to cope with losing control
of their life, said McCartney.

As those debts run up, the favours become more serious, including car
theft and even prostitution, she said.