DRUG SEIZURES GOOD SIGN

Thunder Bay Police Recover More Than $944 K Worth Of Narcotics In 2008

Marijuana is the drug of choice in Thunder Bay, if seizure statistics
released last week by the city's police department are a true
indication of narcotic use within their jurisdiction.

Police spokesman Chris Adams said of the $944,908 worth of illegal
drugs recovered last year by the department, $475,220 could be
attributed to pot.

"What these numbers show is really a breakdown of what drugs are in
demand," said Adams. "It's an indication of how supply and demand
work in this city. Marijuana and cocaine are of high value and these
figures certainly reflect that."

Cocaine, the No. 2 drug on the list, checked in at $349,900, with
Oxycontin ($69,540), extasy ($26,440) and hashish ($6,050) rounding
out the top five.

Unfortunately, Adams added, the seizures are only a fragment of the
drugs that are actually bought and sold in the city.

"These are a fraction of what is really out there on the streets and
what drugs are coming in and out of the community," Adams said.

"This is not certainly anything that any other community of similar
size goes through. Drugs are still a commodity. They are illegal
substances, obviously. They are a source of an underground criminal
economy as well."

Adams said he's intrigued by the number of prescription drugs that
made the list, including Percocet, Ritalin, tranquilizers and Tylenol
3s and 4s.

"Opiates tend to be highly addictive.

They're easily bought and sold on the street.

They have a relatively inexpensive value per pill, but when you add
them all up, it certainly does add up to several thousand dollars being dealt."

The most alarming fact is that drug use doesn't seem to be going
away, he added, stating that it means there are still people
hopelessly addicted to drugs and faced with devastation in their
lives and in the lives of their loved ones.

"We see the spillover of that obviously in some of the crimes that we
deal with. If you look at break and enters, and certainly robberies,
where people are going and not necessarily stealing a lot in value .
we know that in a lot of cases they're just taking that and buying
either prescription drugs or other illegal products."

The statistics, for the first time since the start of the Tri-Force
Drug Unit, a collaboration between city police, the OPP and the RCMP,
include only busts made in Thunder Bay by the local police
department. Last year's figures presented more of a regional picture,
Adams said.