TROUBLE IN A BAG

When drug dealers peddling cocaine showed up in Moose Jaw in droves
five years ago, police Chief Terry Coleman knew there was a problem.

"Moose Jaw is a relatively untapped market," he said. "Word gets
around and more people come here."

Cocaine, the drug of choice for well-off recreational users in the
1990s, dropped from about $100 per gram in 1999 to about $60 per gram
today, according to Moose Jaw police Sgt. Tim Arnott.

Its popularity in the city increased due to its wide-spread
availability and now trumps marijuana as the easiest drug to procure,
said Coleman. In 2006, city police seized 130 grams of cocaine with
an estimated street value of $10,000.

Two people were charged with possession for the purpose of
trafficking, three were charged with possession and one was charged
with trafficking.

Since January, police have confiscated 40 grams in six separate
busts, resulting in six charges of possession for the purpose of
trafficking and two charges of possession.

"Most of the trafficking here has ties to organized crime," said
Coleman. "The Hells Angels have got their hands in all sorts of drugs
and native gangs and Asian gangs are bringing it in from Winnipeg,
Brandon, Regina and Saskatoon."

At the Angus Campbell Centre, an addiction treatment facility in
Moose Jaw, over half the patients have had some experience with
cocaine. Currently, about 15 per cent of those being treated are
trying to kick their addiction to coke, which director Judy Burns
said is lower than normal.

Local addicts come from mid-income homes and range in age from 17 to
40, with most falling between 20 and 39.

Coleman said the growing number of young people using the drug is one
reason the police force has put such an emphasis on eradicating it,
but it's hard to do without more officers.

"The number of busts we've made is a poor indication of how much
cocaine is actually out there. We have insufficient resources to deal
with the problem and my fear is, if we don't do it now, it's just
going to get worse.

" City council recently approved the police service's 2007 budget,
which included funds for two new officers so current police could be
transferred to specifically target drug trade in the city.