COKE USE UP IN CITY

AADAC Offices 'Swamped'

A tripling of cocaine clients over the past five years is helping to swamp
the Calgary office of a provincial substance abuse agency, says its
spokeswoman.

The Calgary office of the Alberta Alcohol and Drug Abuse Commission said
the prevalence of cocaine addiction it sees is troubling, and wearing down
treatment staff, said Karen Hala, manager of counselling and prevention.

"It's mind-boggling. We're constantly having to be creative to handle the
volumes," said Hala.

AADAC in Calgary now handles 600 new addictions cases a month -- double
what it was five years ago.

And five years ago, the proportion of clients reporting problems with
cocaine was 10-12% of the Calgary centre's clientele.

Cocaine now represents 35% of its caseload.

The most frequently abused substance confronted by AADAC remains alcohol,
but cocaine has replaced marijuana as the second-ranked problem, said Hala.

"We're now much more focused on people doing more harmful drugs like
cocaine," she said.

"Cocaine is much more difficult to deal with in terms of cravings and the
devastation."

The scope of the damage is magnified by the diversity in the use of
cocaine, from powder to crack and injectable forms, she said.

The drug's easy availability, and relatively affordable price, coupled with
Calgary's rapidly-growing population, said Hala, are likely reasons for the
increased incidence of cocaine abuse.

She was reluctant to criticize police efforts in cracking down on the drug.

"(Cocaine) is that much harder to detect than marijuana," she said.

The head of the Mounties' Calgary drug unit said his team is doing its best
to battle the cocaine scourge.

"That's the drug we concentrate on the most because it's the biggest
problem," said Staff Sgt. Birnie Smith.

"Over 80 percent of our enforcement efforts are concentrated on cocaine."

The force, he added, "would love to have more resources to do more."