DRUGS DRIVE ROBBERIES, POLICE SAY

Pocket-poor addicts hungry for their next fix are forcing their way
into local homes in search of fast cash and other valuables, police
have said.

Hardcore drug users are responsible for a large number of burglaries
and other crimes where money is the motive, OPP Const. Sean McTeague
told Orillia Today.

"These people are addicted and they need money to continue their
habit," he said in a recent interview.

"It is just a matter of time before their decision-making process is
going to lead to criminal activity."

According to McTeague, the proliferation of theft and other crimes
committed by drug users points to a larger problem that will continue
to grow if left untreated.

"Substance abuse is running rampant in Orillia," he said. "And the
whole community is being victimized because of it."

Drug abuse has also been linked to a number of sudden deaths reported
within the detachment's coverage area, he said.

"You can't say 100 per cent it was the drugs," he added.

"But certainly, one has to believe that if you are taking these toxins
into your system, we know it does harm to your body."

Working in tandem with local schools, police are determined to reach
the city's youth before they begin experimenting with drugs and other
substances that are fuelling crime in the Orillia area.

Ongoing education programs like DARE explore the dangers of drug use
while teaching local students to stand up for themselves.

"It is about people making wise and healthy choices," added
McTeague.

A collaborative effort involving police, teachers, Grade 6 students,
and parents, the DARE program was designed to prevent or reduce drug
abuse and violence among youth.

Students are taught to recognize and resist the peer pressures that
lead them to flirt with alcohol, cigarettes, pot, and other drugs.

"It takes a lot of courage to stand up and say 'No'," he
added.

In the same breath, marijuana seizures at local elementary schools are
not unheard of, McTeague said.

"A lot of the time, these kids are getting it from their older brother
or sister who are peddling it in the high school," he said.

In other instances, students caught with pot claim to have stolen the
drug from their mother or father.

"The parents are supposed to be the lead example," he
added.

"If you don't have that support in place, it kind of throws a cog in
the mechanism."

In an effort to relieve students of the peer pressure associated with
cigarette smoking, police emphasize the decline in tobacco use among
Grade 8s - a national trend supported by surveys of schools across
North America.

"We try to strengthen the principles and values and skills of the ones
that aren't using, so all of a sudden it is not cool to smoke," he
said.