Drug traffickers in Red Deer are on the run as Mounties have taken down more than a dozen drug houses in the past year and have another 30 across the city under current investigation. "I think we have forced drug dealers to be on the move more, as opposed to being stationary," said Red Deer city RCMP S. Sgt. Keith Janes, who heads the detachment's General Investigation Section. "To some people that might not appear to be a good thing (but) when they move everything they can actually be easier to catch when they are mobile." [continues 578 words]
Community representatives from across the province gathered in Red Deer yesterday to build on momentum for strategies to problems caused by alcohol and drugs. The 2nd Annual Alberta Drug Strategy Coalition Showcase, sponsored by the Alberta Alcohol and Drug Abuse Commission (AADAC), was held at the Red Deer Lodge, and 57 communities were represented. Participants were hoping momentum to exchange ideas would take another leap forward from the proactive initiatives put forward in last month's report from the Premier's Task Force on Crystal Meth. [continues 463 words]
The final report from the Premier's Task Force on Crystal Meth is bold, ambitious and most surprisingly of all, laden with a sense the Alberta Tory government might just proceed to tackle a serious social problem with unprecedented vigour. "The government has to support it," declared Red Deer North MLA Mary Anne Jablonski, the only elected MLA on the task force committee. But hold on to your hats folks - we can't for a second ignore the fact that we live in Toryland, Alberta - the land where the bottom line rules and quick decisive action is reserved only for approving more oil sands projects. [continues 862 words]
Last month the Express ran a two-part series on crystal meth, and the efforts being made across Alberta and locally to get to the root of this growing problem before it becomes epidemic. There is a provincial task force underway, and RCMP in the city and rural areas are doing their best to stop crystal meth operations before they take hold in the region. The meth problem, however, is largely underground. Users and dealers live in the shadows. Large-scale production operations for the drug can take just a few hours to set up, manufacture, tear down and distribute. [continues 930 words]
Part 2 of a 2 part series Addicts And Loved Ones Learn Recovery From Meth Is A Long, Hard Road Marie was spinning out of control in jail after her last crystal meth drug bust. She was in a nightmarish place where she didn't want to die and didn't want to live. Another visit to jail featured a beating from members of the Redd Alert aboriginal street gang over a long past due drug debt. Fortunately for Marie, her parents bailed her out after three long days fuelled with gut-wrenching hysteria and paranoia. [continues 2140 words]
By now we all know crystal meth is a menace to society, or at least it will become one if we don't start listening and watching what is unfolding in the United States. The current Premier's Task Force on Crystal Meth has the advantage of looking elsewhere to aid its recommendations when the final report comes out in September. Yes, there has been some trouble spots in Alberta -- Drayton Valley, Edson and Hinton -- but nothing like the epidemic that has hit the American states of Colorado, California and the state of Washington. [continues 887 words]
Red Deer's youth has told the Premier's Task Force on Crystal Meth that the devastating drug is far more widespread and creating greater problems in Red Deer than anybody realizes. "I asked the kids that were here, some of them recovering addicts, what is the problem with crystal meth out there?" said Red Deer North MLA Mary Anne Jablonski, a member of the task force. "The kids that were here all looked at each other and said, 'Huge. It is huge. [continues 441 words]
Marie's flyer was propelling her to murder. The flyer - created by Marie during a four day-long binge on crystal meth - is a psychotic state of mind caused by the drug that leads to hysterical paranoia and rage. Marie had an ounce and a half of meth on her, and she was smoking, snorting and eating meth as fast as the insane thoughts racing through her head. The 22-year-old woman was convinced she had to kill someone, anyone. She had a two-foot long machete stuffed in her pants to prove the point. [continues 1922 words]
A while back I was invited to a birthday party for a Calgary businessman. It was a 12-Step birthday for this fellow at a monthly Alcoholics Anonymous birthday meeting. He was celebrating his first birthday, one year of continuous recovery from alcohol and drugs. Three hundred and 65 days earlier his life looked like this: wife and kids gone, his home lost, a career obliterated and no friends. One year later, he was clean from all drugs and alcohol, his wife and kids were back, his home returned, a new job had started with better money and career opportunities, and the respect and admiration of his friends returned. [continues 871 words]
Red Deer city RCMP, concerned over growing gang activity in the city, are creating a new Organized Crime Unit. Funding for the new two-officer unit (OCU) is coming from the 2006 policing budget, which is being put forward to the city today. As part of the city RCMP's overall plan to crack down on organized crime, the detachment is also expanding its drug enforcement Street Team from six members to eight. Red Deer city RCMP Supt. Jim Steele said the OCU will work in conjunction with not only the Street team but with the existing Criminal Intelligence Unit (CIU) out of the 55 St. building. [continues 441 words]
HOBBEMA - Hobbema's Samson Cree Nation is set to introduce an unprecedented new law that will banish band members who engage in violent gang activities and drug dealing. The new law, tentatively called the Banishment and Residency Law, is set to be introduced to the Samson tribal council in January. "We have people involved in the drug trade, stuff that is unsavoury. We have to address it," said Mel Buffalo, the band's director of operations. "I think council will agree to it." [continues 567 words]
Terrorized city cab drivers are quitting their night time shifts because of Red Deer's growing methamphetamine and crack cocaine crisis. "It is getting to the point where somebody is going to die," said John Whittingham, co-owner of Alberta Gold Taxi. "I've had drivers beat up and the cars kicked. Drivers are asking the question, `Do we need cages?" Whittingham said company drivers experience the trauma of a serious violent incident once every seven to 10 days, and that the number of total incidents in 2005 is twice that of the past several years. [continues 367 words]
Date rape is currently on the rise in Red Deer area and illegal drugs used for the "sinister" deed are now abundant on city streets. "We are seeing an increase of it (date rape) each year," said Dianne Howarth, executive director of the Crisis Centre, which provides support services in Red Deer for victims of sexual assault and their families. "Date rape drugs are now more accessible and kids are drinking at a younger age." Howarth said the centre sees 300 new cases a year, and about 20 of them are now classified as date rape. [continues 411 words]
Highly sophisticated dial-a-dope operations have grabbed a foothold in Red Deer as major criminal organizations expand into smaller communities. Red Deer's growing dial-a-dope problem was identified in a recently released annual report from the province's Criminal Intelligence Service (CIS). "Police believe that dial-a-dope activities involving traffickers from Edmonton and Calgary will continue to occur," said the annual report. The 25-page report also notes that increased pressure on gangs in Edmonton is forcing criminal organizations that deal drugs to expand into smaller municipalities. [continues 322 words]
A grieving father, whose drug addicted son froze to death in a back alley, says his only child may have lived if Red Deer had a detox centre. "If my son had help he probably would be alive now. He couldn't get any help in this city," said Bill Gray, a 67-year-old retired iron worker. Gray's 24-year-old son Shaun died last winter in a downtown back alley, a year after his wife Betty passed away from cancer. [continues 356 words]
There are positive vibes flowing at Red Deer's 10 middle schools. For the first time, students in grades 6, 7 and 8 are receiving the benefits of the RCMP's D.A.R.E. program, which stands for Drug Abuse Resistance Education. As a result, school principals and teachers say they are already seeing the positive results for young people between the ages of 11 and 13. "Peer pressure really sets in at that age," said Cynthia Fisher, a Grade 7 teacher at St. Francis of Assisi Middle School in Lancaster. [continues 675 words]
Police in Central Alberta are rounding up 43 drug pushers across the region following one of the largest busts in years. The massive seven-week investigation -- led by the Red Deer city RCMP Street Team and the Red Deer Subdivision Drug Section -- will result in more than 150 drug and Criminal Code charges being laid. Mounties seized $90,000 worth of drugs, including 794 grams of cocaine and crack cocaine, 130 grams of methamphetamine, 956 grams of marijuana, 125 grams of psilocybin (magic mushrooms), as well as quantities of MS Contin ("poor man's heroin") and Valium. [continues 350 words]
Drug busting Red Deer Mounties are moving so fast they are now catching dealers cooking their stash while storming crack houses. Last Thursday, the city detachment's vaunted Street Team made their third successful raid on crack houses in a week, and in the process netted $3,000 worth of cocaine, a cache of stolen property and arrested three people at 15 Odell Green in Oriole Park. One of those arrested was caught cooking crack. "I know they are making a difference, and yes I am happy with what they are doing," said Supt. Jim Steele. [continues 564 words]
Central Alberta pharmacies are vowing to comply with a provincial college order to restrict access to cold remedies used to manufacture the deadly methamphetamine drug. "These single entity products will be put behind the counter. I want to make sure the public is safe," said Dev Aggarwal, pharmacist at Red Deer's West Park IDA Drugs. "We are doing everything in our power to the limit the use for drug users." The Alberta College of Pharmacies is asking Alberta's 998 community and hospital pharmacies to voluntarily place products that contain ephedrine or pseudoephedrine as a single therapeutic ingredient, such as Sudafed, behind the prescription counter. As well, pharmacies are being asked to restrict the sale of all such products to a maximum of 3,600 mg of pseudoephedrine and 400 mg of ephedrine. [continues 205 words]
Red Deer's methadone clinic will be under less pressure to serve Central Alberta drug addicts now that Calgary has opened two new facilities Phil Rauch, executive director of the Central Alberta AIDS Network, told police committee members up to 100 Calgary clients will no longer have to come to Red Deer. "There is a humane side to addictions. We have to look at crime and everything else, but these people need help to," said Phil Hyde, chairman of the policing committee. [continues 465 words]
