DRUG CRIMES ON RISE: STATISTICS CANADA

OTTAWA - Police forces say the drug-related crime rate was at a
20-year high in 2002 and most of the incidents involved pot,
Statistics Canada reports.

Seventy five per cent of drug-related incidents in 2002 involved
marijuana, and about 72 per cent of those were possession offences,
the agency reported today.

''The police-reported drug crime rate has risen an estimated 42 per
cent since the early 1990s and now stands at a 20-year high,'' the
agency said.

''Police reported almost 93,000 incidents related to the Controlled
Drugs and Substances Act in 2002. Of these, about two-thirds were for
possession, 22 per cent were for trafficking and the remainder were
for offences involving importation and production.''

Between 1992 and 2002, about one in 10 homicides involved trafficking
or the settling of drug-related accounts. ''Cocaine was involved in 60
per cent of these drug-related homicides.''

Among provinces in 2002, the rate of drug-related incidents per
100,000 population was highest in British Columbia, followed by
Saskatchewan and New Brunswick, the agency said.

''Rates of drug offences in British Columbia have been above the
national average each year for the past 25 years,'' it added.

Among metropolitan areas in 2002, the highest rates of police-reported
drug offences were in Thunder Bay, Ont., Vancouver, and Victoria.

Most of the offences involved young adults aged 18 to 24 in followed
by youths aged 12 to 17.

''The age group 18 to 24 also recorded the highest rates for cocaine
trafficking and possession,'' Statistics Canada said. ''Rates for both
offences declined with age.''