RETIRED DETECTIVE SAYS STREET DRUGS ARE RAMPANT

It's the flip side of drugs many people don't get to see - addicts so
strung out they can't even stand to be in their own skin.

Retired Detective Steve Walton said 'coke bugs' is a sensation that
drives many users to pick and tear away their flesh.

"They believe they have bugs crawling under their skin," said Walton
who knew of a woman who tore off most of her face as a result.

"With her mouth closed you could see teeth because she ripped all of
her skin away."

Walton used many graphic images and details along with science to
educate Grande Prairie Composite high school students Thursday about
the harmful effects of using drugs. Walton toured schools throughout
the area this week giving drug awareness presentations to students and
parents.

Walton was a cop with the Calgary Police Service for 25 years and he
spent the last 10 supervising an undercover street team. He learned
the street jargon, watched people do drugs and even purchased large
quantities of it.

"I made a lot of observations many people don't get to make."

He showed pictures of a discoloured and swollen arm from a user who
was picking out needles out of the gutter and shooting up along with
rashes, referred to as speed bumps, meth users often get as a result
of their bodies trying to expel toxins through the skin.

Walton showed a picture of a lifeless body of a young grad after her
friends convinced her to try ecstasy and she had a reaction and
collapsed on the bathroom floor.

"Most people don't get to see this," he said. " The life of drugs is
seen in a glorified manner."

It was that straightforward and real approach that made many of the
students realize the harm their peers may be inflicting on themselves.

"I think he deterred a lot of people from doing the more hardcore
drugs," said Grade 12 student Travis Miller. "The visuals really
showed us the first-hand effects."

Grade 12 student Kate Curzon said it is important to target her age
group with this information.

"Especially because coke is so big in Grande Prairie," she said.
"(During the presentation) I was actually counting how many kids I
know that do drugs and I counted 35 kids."

Some students said smoking marijuana has become like cigarettes and
high school students are experimenting with other drugs like cocaine
and ecstasy.

Miller said he would guess 98 per cent of students have at least tried
marijuana once. And he said it is not hard for teenagers to get their
hands on weed in and out of the school.

"You can ask any Joe Blow if you know where to get drugs," he
said.

And while some drugs have become more accepted in society, Walton said
they are still just as dangerous as they are often a gateway to other
drugs.

"People who use alcohol, tobacco and marijuana ... are more likely
than people who don't use those drugs to move on to other drugs we
consider more acutely harmful, drugs like coke and meth."

He said many young people experiment with drugs in pursuit of
pleasure, to escape from reality, or give into peer pressure without
knowing what that can lead to.

"I think there's an enormous amount of misinformation out there," he
said. "And at this age it's hard for them to see ahead."

He said he couldn't say it any better than one drug-addicted
prostitute did when she said drugs are a death wish and they only lead
to one of two places, death or jail.

And Walton's seen the latter of the two and he told the students it
was one of the most frightening places he's ever been.

"I hope you never have to go to jail because of drugs," said Walton
who spent time in a prison for an undercover operation. "For the short
time I was there, I got an inside look at the federal prison system
and I wouldn't wish that on anybody."

At the end of the day, Walton just hopes students will use the
information to make educated choices and set an example for their peers.

"Some of the these kids are going to learn the hard way that what
we're telling them is true but they won't believe it but some will.
Some kids are sitting out there and regardless of what they're friends
say, they learn the easy way."