By JEFF NAGEL TERRACE — The wiretapping Of more than a dozen Terrace- area residents was one tool RCMP used to crack three locally operating drug tings in 1989, ~ Most of the charges in the three drug-trafficking con- . spiracies are still before the courts, said Const. Doug Mar- - tin, the Terrace RCMP’s nar- cotics officer, But one case that ~ began with undercover work by officers in Terrace recently end- ed in a trail of cocaine traffick- ing and conspiracy convictions from middlemen in the central interior to larger suppliers in Vancouver. and. the U.S, Sentences ranged from one to i0 years in prison for the con- victed dealers. That case also marked a precedent-setting court decision in which RCMP videotape evidence of cocaine transactions in a Prince George apartment was allowed because the video surveillance was not found to be an “‘unreasonable search’’ con- travening the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. ’ ft was a major victory for us,’’ Martin said. Between 13 and 15 wiretaps . were authorized to intercept communications of suspected local dealers, he said, and the phone taps were a key in bring- ing the cases to court and get- ting convictions. Hundreds of hours .of. taped conversations were entered as evidence at local narcotics trials, But wiretapping is just one— part of the enforcenient equa- tion, Martin said. Evidence . turns.up in the form of police surveillance, witness testimony, and drugs seized in raids. Officers ‘get mitch of that evidence from informants and users they arrest, Martin said, ‘Deals are made with smaller dealers to enable officers to track down the larger ones, Martin said surveillance of a Suspect or a suspect’s house is usually done ‘to get enough evidence for a search warrant. Evidence is also needed before a judge will approve a “part 6 authorization’ which enables RCMP to tap phones, ‘place hidden microphones and video cameras, and take any other action deemed legal in their quest for information. “Or we can direct our under- cover officers to buy,” he add- ed, referring to sting operations that have led to convictions in’ the past. a Prevention is also important, he said, ‘‘You can’t just have . enforcement,’’ “he said, Educa- tion is critical in getting support and information from the com- munity and cutting the demand for illicit drugs. a Martin said he tries to spend 20 per cent of his time respon- ding to the.community’s in- creasing demand for drug education, Terrace is very responsive to anti-drug efforts, he said. '‘The flow of drug information here is way more than I’ve seen in most communities. People know there’s a problem and they're MARIJUANA is still the most common ilicit drug here. RCMP con- Tracking the drug scene Wiretaps a key | Oo ‘to local busts. centrate on cocaine traffic, but also make seizures of home-grown marijuana and the hydroponic equipment used to grow it indoors. willing to assist,” he said. “I really think there's a better class of people out here.” Most major narcotics en- forcement decisions are made by the RCMPs narcotics squad in Prince Rupert. ‘‘They decide if our local dealers are big. enough to worry about,’’ Mar- tin said. Only small amounts of drugs, arrive through the coastline, he said. Most of the flow is from Vancouver through the interior to Terrace. In addition to supplying local users, Terrace’s drug trade is part of an artery from Van- Local drug detox centre needed TERRACE — The northwest needs a detoxifica- tion centre to treat drug addicts in the area, ac- cording to the head of a local drug counselling Np RLS agency. ©”: mee *< Like cocaine, ‘the region's most serious-drug*’ problem, drug rehabilitation is a game for the tich, says Northwest Drug and Alcohol Services program director June Campbell, The not-so- rich have to make due with local counselling, or travel to Prince George, the nearest detoxifica- tion centre, Addicts going through withdrawal often can’t handle the eight-hour bus ride to Prince George, Campbell said. A user who wants to get off a drug like cocaine faces physical withdrawal — which sometimes CHEAP, POWERFUL AND LONG-LASTING, ice is expected to means about a week in hospital — and then the long-term cravings that can require long-term counselling. She said a northwest detox centre would help these users get off and stay off. ‘"* Rehabilitation programs offered by employers are becoming more common, she said. ° Campbell said a less known form of drug abuse involves the abuse of prescription drugs by the elderly. ‘‘They tend to misuse prescription drugs, mix their medications, forget how much they’ve taken. And some of them do develop dependencies."* Larger centres are now moving towards special treatment centres for elderly addicts, she added. Prescription drug abuse is most common among women, with tranquilizers and sleeping pills be- ing the most commonly abused drugs. blem. RCMP say it’s only a matter of time before the deadly couver suppliers to Prince Rupert, Martin said. “We see. lots of marijuana and hash,” he said. “‘But our biggest problem here is cocaine, it’s having the most devastating impact.” ; Between court time, working on other major crimes, and do- ing prevention seminars, Martin said drug investigations are often strapped for time and manpower, ‘‘What you’re able to do all comes down to dollars and cents,” he said. “‘And | don’t think you can stop it — but you can slow it down.’’ June Campbe replace crack cocaine as North America’s most serious drug pro- smokable form of methamphetamine comes here, New drug worse than crack TERRACE ~- Ice — widely feared as the powerful and deadly new drug of the Nineties — has appeared on Vancouver streets and local. RCMP say it’s: only a matter of time before it hits Terrace. “It's a very scary drug,” sald. Terrace RCMP Const. Doug Martin. “We're terrified of what it’s going to do.” . The drug — commonly called - ‘ica’! — is a crystalline form of methamphetamine that took over most of the market in Hawail.and is now appéaring - throughout North America, |! : Martin: said he expects. the drug to.soon make ah ap-- pearance in the northwest. “It might even be here already,” he said, ‘but I'd like to think not.” . Ice is said to be more power- ful and. devastating than crack cocaine. The drug comes iti the user in. an immediate intense State of euphoria that can last from eight to 24 hours, But after the high they crash into a coma-like sleep for up to-three “days. | “It’s a very scary drug. We're jist waiting. for this Stuff to hit-us, because it's going to be the drug of the Nineties,” form of small crystals that look like rock salt"A kind of ex tremely pure: and smokable. speed, it is heated in a glass pipe ' - arid the vapours are inhaled, : Ips ~ Compared: to the 30¢minute. high “of. crack, ‘ice: oe Instead of plant-based drugs, ~ ice is'easily‘concocted in a lab with ‘ordinary chemicals. And $50 worth (less than a gram) can t a long tlme, because the li- * quified: chentical returns to its. .. Solid'form inside the pipe after Me 1B Nery, economical: one hit ‘puts the each use, making ice almost i i 50) ISS 5h BN A a rian reusable, ; To the user, ice is at first puff almost the perfect drug. Cheap, intense, and long-lasting, it also makes users more alert and pro- ductive on the job. But there are physical and mental side-effects that appear later and can last for years after the user quits, The known ones - include fatal kidney failure, : hallucinations and extreme paranoia, When said, it is expected to replace co- caine as northwestern B.C,'s most setious drug problem, “We're just waiting for this _ stuff to hit us, because it’s going - to be'the drug of the Nineties.” A heat ln Cf iy Terrace Standard, Wednesday, February 21, 1990 — Page AS . LETTER mae ; | TO THE TERRACE STANDARD | ice arrives, Martin What Brian says 2 about Hubert’s’ . Homburg column — Dear Sir: Mr. Beyer’s cleverly disguised diatribe’ against Terrace’s Flaying Dutchman in the Feb, 7 Terrace Stan- dard only proves that the on- ly thing bigger than a conser- vative bigot is a liberal bigot. The liberal media ‘pro- stitutes have been throwing up Archie Bunker in the faces of those who hold to Western democratic prin- ciples of free enterprise now being adopted by the Rus- sians, Interesting that the Kremlin crowd has denounc- ed these pablum pukers for ‘ calling them conservatives, saying there are no Soviet conservatives, only slow thinkers, Apparently it is better for these slow thinking socialist democrats to think over revolutionary moves slowly ' SO as not to be sorry abut them later. Our media calls them obstructionists and dai- ly report Gorbachev's immi- nent removal from office. Having failed to gain their revolution against the Western establishment the liberals here are. rushing helter skelter to Moscow hoping to succeed there where they failed here. They are actually starting to sound like humanist versions of Bill Homburg in their zeal to rid us of the bankrupt com- munist system. It shouldn’t surprise the world to learn that Gor- bachev is coming from the same Christian (he’s Russian Orthodox) perspective that has shaped Bill Homburg’s viewpoint over the years. Gorby is ‘a self-confessed ‘ Christian who admits ‘to: be- ing baptized. The problem for the con- Condom letter was ludicrous An open letter to: Dear Mr. T. Atrill: In regards, (letter, Jan. 24/90) to ‘Condom proposal a moral crisis’ I feel obligated to respond both as a concerned parent and as a student, , Your statements, ‘It is the crisis of both morals and common sense... aided and abetted by the public school system,..’’ seem ta be ludicrous as I quote to you the definition of ‘moral’ from Webster’s Third New International Dictionary, 1986, la): the moral significance or practical lesson taught by or capable of being derived from a story, event, experience or object. Ib): a passage pointing out usually in conclusion the lesson to be drawn from a story, Therefore one would come to the conclusion that we know that through sexual contact AIDS can be transmitted but is preven- table through the use of con- doms, So, by teaching or educating students on this, we avoid AIDS and un- wanted pregnancies. — And yes, the schools are for educating. But since re- The Terrace Standard welcomes letters to the editor on all topics, All letters must be signed and carry an ad- dress and local telephone number, Addresses or phone numbers won't be printed with the letter, but they are “necessary for confirmation of the ‘letter’s authenticity The writer’s name will be published. Requests: for names to be withheld may be ‘has nothing‘ to do with the “french language per se, It is. on the municipalities, forcing -ingual services they cannot . - responsibility in the teaching * indulging in lust) separate! ' cumstances. : servative minded is that our’ -{- media reacts with hysteria every time someone if government makes a deci- sion. For example, one seldom hears that. the reason: sities like Sault Ste. Marie have declared unilingualism purely economic, ; _ ‘The provincial and federal . governments have ganged up | them to provide costly bili- - afford. It's simply cheaper to . declare one’s town unil- ingual, particularly during winter's. expensive snow: removal season. “Our media reacts with hysteria every time someone in government. makes a decision,” - But then pragmatic economic thinking has always been too esoteric for liberal democrats who are generally so open minded their brains have mostly leak- ed out like battery fluid, There is generally nothing there to generate the sparks of original thinking, The media has been in 2 state of hysterics, calling such economic measures a new form of racial bigotry and intolerable intolerance. Quebec is daily compared to Mississippi Burning and peo- ple like the Dutchman are ridiculed as cross burners, As Homburg is apt to say, “We don't burn crosses, we build them." _ But then, that too, is too esoteric for their collective} ‘ thinking. : ee ee a ak - . Brian Gregg Terrace, B.C. cent school surveys show most students learn about sex through peers not parents, I’ see the schools having a of safe sex or condom use. You wrote, “If those male and female ‘punks’ wish to indulge their lusts why does it fall upon us, the taxpayers, ta set up dispenseries in schools,.., do you realize that even now as a taxpayer | you pay for those with AIDS and pregnant teens? “1 see the schools hav- ing a responsibility in the teaching of ‘safe sex’ or condom use.” You seem so opposed to spending money or condom machines, yet in the same let- ter suggest we set up separate schools to keep ‘them’ (female and male punks from I believe !'m safe in stating the cost of setting new schools up for those who in- dulge in sexual activity would far outweigh the cost of a few condom machines. ‘Sincerely Debbie Scarborough Terrace, B.C. More letters A6 letters granted in extraordinary cir- Thank you letters should | be submitted to the ‘Card of Thanks’ section of the classifieds. Letters containing libelous or objectionable matter will - be edited or returned to the - writer, All letters are, ran on a space available basis, with shorter letters likely to be published soonest, . fe a Derburedkantanthet d . Lerrandieiifonten eailrwpinspiegrenbecte “ity nea : a! ot hateRed LUN Lila dh ia hated Se Pee OEE ek ee