CRISIS-LEVEL DRUG PROBLEM DEEP-SEATED

Though it may come as a surprise to some, the fact Belleville's drug
problem is of "crisis proportions" is no secret.

So bad is the drug situation here, in a weekend report on methadone
clinics, Dr. Jeff Daiter told The Intelligencer the Belleville hospital was
practically begging for another clinic to be opened. Though many of the
methadone program clients are addicted to prescription drugs, many who
should be on the program are not. Daiter went so far as to call our
downtown a "warzone."

As we send children to schools and open the door for the elderly at the
grocery stores, we don't think of Belleville as a drug-infested city.

Yet, the pieces of the puzzle are forming a picture most of us don't want
to see.

Police have pointed out in the past that, fortunately and unfortunately,
"all roads eventually lead to Belleville."

So said Ontario Provincial Police drug enforcement commander Dan Reive in
November 2001.

"It's just that with the location along the (Highway) 401, there is access
to a pool of 190,000 people within a 25-minute drive from the city. With
the highway you effectively have the largest connection route between the
two largest cities in Canada: Montreal and Toronto. It's coming right
through here."

The "it" is drugs, in serious quantities. Like the economic development
commission, drug dealers know the value of location too.

The spin-off, though, is no economic boon for Belleville; rather we have
inherited a troubling crime rate directly connected to the trade. As former
police chief Dave Klenavic pointed out in 2001, the drug trade "probably
drives close to 60 per cent of all crime in the area."

Belleville is home to motorcycle gangs, commercial growing operations and
laboratories and, as a result, is the site of debt and turf wars as well.

Late last year, police chief Steve Tanner pointed out "many crimes are tied
to the sale and use of narcotics ... often the most serious crimes are
committed as a result of drugs."

And, he pointed out the criminal activity extends beyond narcotics. "It's
not uncommon to find stolen property and the proceeds of crime at the sites
we shut down," Tanner noted.

To address the problem, police forces joined together in 2000 to create
Project Longarm, which has been tremendously successful on many fronts
(especially where marijuana growing operations are concerned).

Still, some school administrators worry about the reach of dealers into
what should be safe ground, and tenants in some lower-end apartment
buildings yearn to move their children away from the stoned neighbours who
keep them awake at night.