POLICE CRACK DOWN ON DRUGS

Woodstock police have issued a harsh warning for those involved in
Woodstock's drug culture.

"We see them as a serious threat to our community," Woodstock police
Chief Rod Freeman said.

Freeman said local police are doubling their efforts to track down
and charge those committing criminal drug offences in the coming
months and years.

"We've made a commitment to attack the local drug trade," Freeman
said. "People in the drug culture are going to have to look over
their shoulders.

"We want to drive it so far underground that it doesn't affect
regular residents."

As proof of their commitment, the Woodstock Police Service laid 72
drug-related charges against 27 people in the first quarter of 2010
compared with 34 charges laid against 19 people last year.

Of those charges, 22 were related to cocaine, a sharp contrast to the
one cocaine possession charge laid last year in the same period.

Freeman said the most predominant illegal drugs on the market are
cocaine and OxyContin, while youth and teens predominantly use
marijuana and ecstasy.

Freeman said their antidrug campaign is designed to fight back at
"the root cause of far too many other problems in our community."

The spinoff from the drug trade is robberies and thefts, as well as
violent crimes such as home invasions. Freeman compared drug
suppliers to a game of Whac-A-Mole, where moles pop out and are
forced down but keep returning.

Always a source of frustration to law enforcement, once one supplier
is taken off the street, another pops up to take his place.

"It doesn't mean we shouldn't try," he said. "I'd like to put the
drug trade into serious remission."

Still, there are serious challenges when trying to root out illegal drug use.

While the size of the drug squad has recently increased, Freeman said
the department could always use more officers.

"I'd like to see a bigger drug unit; I'd like a dozen officers or
24," Freeman said. "I have no doubt in my mind I could keep them busy."

Freeman said the drug unit focuses on all levels of the trade,
including street dealers.

"We approach it at whatever level we can," he said.

The unit conducts its investigation using surveillance and undercover
buys, while gathering evidence. Investigations are often time
consuming before arrests can be made, and drug dealers are often
transient with unregulated schedules.

Despite the challenges, Freeman said the new emphasis to get drugs
off the street is working.

"I think we are making a difference," Freeman said. "Our efforts are
going to continue; this is front and centre on our radar."

Despite success, Freeman calls the police work a short-term solution.
Courts need to lengthen sentences, making the occupation unattractive, he said.

"Drug trafficking is very lucrative," he said. "The penalty imposed
has to outweigh the benefit of being involved in the drug culture.

"Right now it isn't."

Freeman said community partners also have to come together to find a
long-term solution. On Thursday, the Oxford County Drug Task Force, a
collaboration of more than 50 health-care, education, law
enforcement, ment a l -h e a l t h and other community services, will
release its findings on the local drug culture in its first report.