NEW DRUG STRATEGY TO TARGET YOUTH

Concrete plans to fight illegal drug use and alcohol abuse in Edmonton
will be in place by next year, officials announced yesterday. "To do
nothing is not an option with me," Mayor Bill Smith said at a press
conference where he was flanked by the police chief and
representatives from AADAC, Capital Health, Edmonton Catholic Schools
and the city's community services department.

"This is a very, very serious problem, and this is not about producing
a report that's going to be in a blue binder with gold writing stuck
on a shelf somewhere.

"In 2000, there were 195 deaths in our city due to alcohol and drug
use, and that's just the tip of the iceberg."

The plan to develop a drug-fighting strategy is the result of Smith's
commitment last year to help police curb the city's drug problem.
Smith called on all Edmontonians to wage a war on drugs after a
teenager was shot and killed in Mill Woods in what police said was a
drug-related slaying.

And yesterday Smith said a committee studying the issue since December
has decided Edmonton needs a co-ordinated drug strategy that targets
young people.

About 200 people, including city youth, will participate in a workshop
in two weeks aimed at hammering out that strategy, he said.

It will include prevention, treatment, enforcement and harm reduction
measures, said Bob Ritter, an Edmonton Catholic Schools principal and
Smith's project co-chairman. "We want to have a comprehensive drug
strategy for the city by 2005."

Alcohol abuse and illegal drugs are the "evil thread" that connect a
huge variety of the criminal activities that police fight every day -
gang activity, organized crime, impaired driving, youth crime,
prostitution and family violence, said police Chief Fred Rayner.