DRUG USE PROBLEM GETTING WORSE IN GRANDE PRAIRIE

The "cocaine train" is how the city's top drug cop describes it: A runaway
spiral of drugs and crime that's becoming more and more common in Grande
Prairie.

"When you start using crack cocaine it's a runaway train going down a hill.
You're going to end up in a mess at the bottom unless you get off," says
Cpl. Grant Bulford, head of the Grande Prairie RCMP's drug section.

On an almost daily basis he talks to addicts, dealers and family members
torn apart by addiction to hard drugs.

"They start a downward spiral right into the abyss."

It's a pretty predictable path most hard drug addicts follow. Many start
with solid, respectable jobs and backgrounds, all of which is quickly
eroded as the gnawing addiction takes control, said Bulford.

Inevitably they lose their job and burn through their savings. They
alienate friends and family, and eventually turn to either selling drugs
themselves or committing other crimes to get the money the need to keep the
drugs coming.

"The number of people we have addicted to crack or meth is reflected in the
increase in property crimes we have in the city," said Bulford.

Everything from petty shoplifting and vehicle break-ins to home
break-and-enters, armed robberies and prostitution stem from the cocaine
and methampetamine trade.

"I would easily say the majority of our property crimes are directly
related to drugs. You can't be a hardcore or extreme addict and support
that through legitimate means."

A recent example of that link, Bulford pointed out, is a raid cops made
last week on a Patterson Place apartment where they uncovered hundreds of
stolen items believed to have been taken in trade for drugs.

Bulford was a general-duty officer in Grande Prairie until three years ago
when he moved to the Fort Chipewyan detachment. He returned this summer to
head up the city's two-officer drug section and right away noticed a marked
increase in use of hard drugs like crack cocaine and methamphetamines.

"When I left we didn't really have any meth in Grande Prairie. Most of the
cocaine at that time was powdered and the coke addicts used needles. There
was very little crack. Now pretty much all the cocaine we see in Grande
Prairie is crack.

"I wasn't surprised it was here, but I was a little surprised at the amount
of crack and meth coming in and being used here."

The problem is by no means unique to this city. Use of drugs like meth and
crack is growing Canada-wide. And in Grande Prairie the problem has kept
pace with the booming economy and growth of the city.

"Anywhere (drug dealers) see an opportunity they show up to develop the
market."

Though Mounties are working to nail the upper-level dealers - the ones
"getting rich off the misery" as Bulford describes them - the only sure way
to curb the drug trade is to convince people to never start using.

Education programs like the RCMP's D.A.R.E - Drug and Alcohol Resistance
Education - try to reach kids early in life and educate them about the
dangers of drug use.

"I don't think the drug problem will ever be solved through enforcement. As
long as their is a demand someone will find a way to supply it," said
Bulford. "(D.A.R.E.) shows them at the age when they start making choices,
what can happen if they make the wrong ones."

There are several good signs that someone has begun a hard drug habit: A
sudden loss of interest in favourite activities, change of friends, selling
possessions, frequently borrowing money, and weight loss.

For family or friends who suspect a loved one is already using, Bulford
recommends "intervention or confrontation" - before they board the cocaine
train for good.