AGONIZING TALE

What An Eye-Opener.

Many Calgarians have been unaware just how big a headache -- and heartache
- -- the use of highly addictive crack cocaine has become in this city.

Yesterday's revelation that an eight-year-old boy was being used as a
"mule" by a crack cocaine dealer removes any doubts.

Anyone who watches reality TV has glimpsed the sordid experiences of those
unfortunate souls who will do just about anything to feed their addiction.
But until yesterday, it seemed like a phenomenon far removed from the
pleasant reality of life in our fast-growing city by the Bow.

In the incident, police on patrol saw a drug deal take place and were
astonished to see an adult suspect dealing with a child. The boy was nabbed
with an eight-ball of cocaine, worth about $300.

Police allege it had been given to him by a drug dealer to hold until the
cash transaction was completed.

Dealers apparently use the technique as a way of protecting their own
pathetic butts.

It is despicable that anyone would involve a child in such a sordid activity.

The child bears most of the risk of violence that often accompanies
transactions between crack fiends. It also seems inevitable that exposure
to the world of drugs will lead to the child's eventual transformation into
a user, addict and criminal.

As reporter Mike D'Amour, who broke this sad story yesterday, points out,
in a few years, no one will regard the boy as a victim if he's still
involved in selling drugs.

"We'll just see another drug-dealing scumbag and we'll give silent applause
if he gets jail time," D'Amour says.

Speaking of jail, the man charged in the incident walked out of jail
yesterday after being released on bail, and back into the very same house
where the child had been living before the police action.

That's disturbing by itself, but what's even more disturbing is he wasn't
charged with child endangerment.

It's an agonizing tale and if, as downtown shopkeepers claim, our streets
are becoming infested with crack dealers, there will be many more agonizing
tales to follow.