EPIDEMIC: CRACK COCAINE ADDICTION: PAINKILLERS

Crack cocaine has reached "epidemic" proportions on city streets,
says an undercover officer with the Barrie police drug unit.
"Basically, our biggest problem is crack cocaine," Det.-Const. Jay
Dorion said. "I'm not afraid to say that we have an epidemic. It has
just gotten worse as time has gone on."

Crack is extremely addictive once it sinks its teeth into someone.

"It takes away your whole life," Dorion said. "When you talk to
people, they say they took it once, but then it takes over their
whole life. That's when they have to steal or start dealing to
support their habit."

The drug unit most often deals with marijuana, crack and oxycontin, a
tablet-form opiate, classified as a narcotic, similar to heroin and morphine.

Symptoms of crack use include weight loss, open sores and paranoia,
with users typically between 30 and 50 years old, though Dorion has
seen addicts in their 60s.

"With crack cocaine, it's a quick high and a quick low," he said,
lasting between 10 and 20 minutes.

People hooked on oxycontin are no better off. "If they don't get
their oxys, they're in a world of hurt," Dorion said. "A lot of
people who are addicted to crack also use oxys as a substitute."

Jack Vandenberg, manager of Royal Victoria Hospital's addiction
services program since 2000, has been in the addictions field for 38 years.

He works at the withdrawal centre on Wellington Street West,
providing non-medical treatment and detoxification management. The
facility has been operating since 1986.

"Most of the people we see are poly drug users," Vandenberg said,
meaning they are being treated for more than one substance.

Being immersed in the drug culture is what makes the habit so hard to kick.

"Once you get into that culture, you might get out of rehab and go
right back to that group of friends," Dorion said.

The average client age at the RVH facility is 37, but the facility
cares for people as young as 16 and up to 70.

"We're see a lot of young kids, particularly with crack and marijuana
use," Vandenberg said.

On average over the last five years, the detox centre has admitted
between 1,150 and 1,300 people each year, many of whom are battling
more than one addiction. About two-thirds of the facility's patients
are battling alcohol, followed by marijuana (45 per cent), crack
cocaine (37 per cent) and cocaine (30 per cent).

"We are seeing more oxycontin and Percocet, but we're also seeing
heroin, cocaine and cannabis drugs, such as marijuana and hashish,"
Vandenberg said.

But oxycontin has become more prevalent, too, over the last three
years. "It's very addictive," Vandenberg said, adding it's classified
as a prescription narcotic, lumping it in with heroin and morphine.
"The trouble with a narcotic is people build a tolerance, and can
sometimes start to double the dosages."

One of the trends the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit has also
seen is the growing use of opiate pain relievers among youth.

"It's the No. 1 drug of choice behind alcohol and marijuana," said
Janice Greco, a public health nurse and manager of the health unit's
injury and substance misuse prevention program. "There are access
issues. Parents might not be thinking that kids have access to the
drug cabinet."

In 2007, opioid pain relievers such as codeine, Percocet and Demerol
ranked third behind alcohol and marijuana, according to the Centre
for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH). Tobacco was fourth.

The CAMH has tracked drug use among Ontario students since 1977, the
longest ongoing school survey of adolescents in Canada.

"Generally, rates of drug use in 2007 are lower compared to earlier
periods, especially the peak periods of use observed in the late
1970s and again in the late 1990s," the study says.

The drug scene is so bad in Barrie that a dedicated drug unit was warranted.

Drug enforcement had fallen under the street crime unit, and local
officers were also attached to the Huronia Combined Forces Drug Unit
before the four-person drug unit was formed last year. "We were just
so busy, so there was a call for it," said Dorion, 34, sporting a
beard, a black T-shirt, a ball cap and camouflaged shorts. "It's
busy, busy, busy."

What's Next?

Trends are key to policing, to know what's coming next. "Crack is
getting worse, but we have yet to see crystal meth," said Det.-Const.
Jay Dorion, with the Barrie police drug unit. "We are getting some
powdered meth, though."

Authorities are expecting crystal meth -- sometimes referred to on
the streets as "ice" -- to be in Barrie soon. "There is no doubt it
will eventually make its way here," he said. "It's just a matter of
time. We've been waiting for it. People are worried about crystal
meth, but crack is no better."

Jack Vandenberg, who has been in the addictions field for 38 years, agrees.

"The one thing that hasn't hit us in any great numbers is crystal
meth. But once it hits, it's bad," he said. Heroin is also rare for
city cops. "You hear about it, but you don't see it much," Dorion
said, adding oxycontin seems to have replaced heroin as a synthetic
version. "It's easy to get because it's prescribed by doctors. It's
also cheaper than heroin -- $40 for an 80 (milligram tablet), which
is the most potent."