CRACK COMES TO PANGNIRTUNG

"The Demand Is Out There, That's For Sure"

Crack, a highly addictive drug made from cocaine, is now sold at $50
for a rock about one-fifth the size of a Smartie, on the streets of
Pangnirtung.

A long-term resident of the community, who spoke on condition of
anonymity, said that cocaine is not new to the community, and neither
is crack, which people have made before by freebasing coke.

What is new, she said, is that crack is being brought in for sale,
not just for personal use.

"It's being trafficked now," she said.

The mother of three first heard about crack in town two months ago,
and has seen it for herself.

"I saw them -- tiny rocks, four of which will fit on my pinkie
finger, for $50 a piece."

She has also seen people who use the drug.

"After the drug came in, we really saw a lot of people with weird
actions -- their bodies acting weird, and their eyes just not
right... They were always kind of moving and jittering their bodies.
They just can't stay still."

The woman said teenagers, young adults and some older men, with jobs
and families, have been using the drug. She's concerned that some
people will sell their hunting equipment and snowmobiles to keep
getting high.

She's also worried about the teenagers who might not know what
they're getting into.

"The kids don't really know what they are taking, because it's not in
the education system, because it is not being taught at the community
level -- what these drugs are -- and because we don't have a drug and
alcohol [worker] in the community."

This is a repeat of the problem when ecstasy first came to the
community, she said. Some young people took the drug with booze -- a
very unsafe combination. When problems arise from mixing drugs, youth
do know better than to visit the health centre, where they can be
questioned.

"With no education, I'm just concerned that someone's going to die of
an overdose and not quite know what they're doing."

Since the drug arrived, there have been more break-ins and
shoplifting, she said. She's heard several people on the radio
complaining about things being stolen from their homes.

That fits with the information on the latest court docket in Iqaluit,
which shows Pangnirtung as the one of the biggest sources of criminal
activity in the Baffin, next to the capital.

RCMP Cst. Scott Ksionzyk, who joined the Pangnirtung detachment as
unit commander last August, said he's heard that crack has been
around for the last several months.

"We're aware of it, we're concerned about it, and we're doing what we
can to address it," he said.

Ksionzyk also said this is "probably a fairly recent development,"
but one that is not unique to Pang.

Freebasing cocaine is not unheard of in Iqaluit, either.

The RCMP has seized crack in the capital before, said Cpl. Rob Legere
of the RCMP's drug unit in Iqaluit. And though Legere was not aware
of any crack in town as of this past Monday, he said there is "a fair
possibility" that there is some.

Legere said police stay informed through a network of information
sources, and actively investigate possible suspects.

"I just wish that our government would wake up and start to do actual
real groundwork in the communities and not just on paper," said the
woman in Pangnirtung.

"I think they should put a lot more money into prevention programs.
Then they wouldn't have to do the aftercare."

In the meantime, she said, "the demand is out there, that's for sure."