PAYING PANHANDLERS FEEDS THE DRUG PROBLEM ON OTTAWA'S STREETS,
COMMUNITY GROUP TOLD

People should not give money to panhandlers they encounter on Ottawa
streets, says police Chief Vern White.

"I don't give out a nickel," he said when questioned on the topic
following a speech Wednesday at the annual general meeting of the
Council on Aging of Ottawa.

White had been expected to speak on the topic of seniors and security,
but instead provided a sketch of Ottawa's growing problem of drug use
and addiction among young people.

"There are over 6,000 intravenous drug addicts in this city," the
chief said. " There are thousands more who are addicted to other
drugs, whether OxyContin, ecstasy, marijuana, hashish (or) crack cocaine."

Many of the panhandlers on downtown streets are drug users, and those
who give them money are effectively enabling drug use, White suggested.

"I can tell you they are not begging money for food," he said,
pointing out that the city has many places - the Shepherds of Good
Hope, the Salvation Army, the Mission - where needy people can get
food. "You can get three or four meals a day in this city right now."

Asked for advice on how people should respond to panhandlers, the
police chief said they shouldn't feel guilty about not giving money. "
I can't tell you how many times we've taken down a crack dealer in
some motel room and they'll have $4,500 in change on the floor. They
didn't collect that. In a lot of cases (it was) collected by people
begging for money."

White said he's increasingly worried about the level of drug use in
Ottawa, particularly among youth. "There's not a 14-or 15-year-old (in
Ottawa) who can't buy drugs. I have yet to see a school that doesn't
have drug dealers."

The drugs young people have available to them are powerfully
addictive, White said. "There are crack cocaine users in this city who
became addicted within days. Sixtyfour per cent of crystal meth users
are addicted after using the drug once."

Once addicted, they turn almost inevitably to crime, he said, breaking
into cars, garages, homes and stores; anywhere to find a few dollars
to feed their habit. "They steal anything they can to get $5 to get a
crumb of crack cocaine, smoke it and then go do something else an hour
later.

"The average crack cocaine addict will commit four to eight crimes per
day. I've had addicts tell me they've done 20 crimes a day. They could
do a parking lot of cars in one day. They'd walk along and smash every
window."

White noted that two residential drug treatment homes for
drug-addicted youth will soon be established, and that every high
school in the city will have a drug treatment counsellor in September.

But these measures barely scratch the surface of the problem, White
suggested, pointing out that elementary schools are seeing cases of
10-year-olds on drugs. " Twelve-year-olds are showing up at school
with prescription drugs stolen from their parents."

He urged seniors to do what they can to help. " They might be your
grandkids."