The drug addict and the cop agree on one thing - the temporary euphoria of crack is quickly replaced by despair, addiction and destruction.
“This is a drug that quite literally destroys your life,” says Peter Orsino, head of the joint forces drug unit for Greater Sudbury Police.
Addict Joey O’Connor (not his real name) puts it another way.
“You might as well put a gun in your mouth,” said O’Connor. “It’s that bad...this stuff is so addictive and causes so much grief and destruction, I can’t put it into words.”
O’Connor, 47, has been a hard core drug addict for more than 30 years. He started abusing alcohol and drugs as a teenager. He became addicted to methamphetamine (speed) at the age of 17.
Five years ago, he took his first hit from a crack pipe and has watched a difficult life fall apart since then.
“I used needles all my life, but that was becoming socially unacceptable, even among drug addicts,” he said. “I can remember my first hit of a crack pipe like it was yesterday. I took one puff and that was it.
“It was unbelievable...despite all the drugs I’ve done, I never felt a high like that before.”
Users never get that high again although they keep trying. The effects of crack last only 10 to 20 minutes, and addicts want more and more. The craving never goes away.
“Crack is so addictive you can’t handle it. You get hooked almost right away. You wouldn’t believe the amount of grief and pain I’ve seen caused by this drug in this city over the last five years.”
Within the past two years, crack cocaine has gone from a fringe problem involving maybe a couple dozen addicts to one starting to spiral out of control in Greater Sudbury, said Peter Orsino, head of the joint forces drug unit for Greater Sudbury Police.
Because it’s relatively cheap-a small piece for $10 will get you high-more and more people are trying it. Drug gangs from Toronto have infiltrated Greater Sudbury because there are huge profits to be made, said Orsino.
It’s not unusual for an addict to spend anywhere from $500 to $2,000 a day, said Orsino.
O’Connor, 47, agreed to talk to Northern Life openly about Sudbury’s crack cocaine underworld if he was paid $40. Our decision to pay a source was not taken lightly, and we did so because we believed his story was important.
At the time of this interview, he hadn’t eaten a “real meal” in four days. His face was pale, eyes withdrawn, but his mind and speech were clear.
He didn’t hold back when talking about the drug he believes will kill him.
He has numerous medical problems, most caused by constant drug use, and his body weight is very low.
Despite years of constant drug abuse, O’Connor, a father of five, is articulate and thinks deeply before answering questions.
He said while he believes it is too late for him to get help, his life will not be wasted if he can prevent young people from getting addicted to crack and other hard drugs.
“I don’t have long left to live,” he said matter-of-factly. “My only goal is to try to talk to young people who are already involved (with crack) and tell them to straighten out before it’s too late.
“I spend most of my time at crack houses and I try and make sure the addicts don’t get roughed up and aren’t victims of violence. When I’m around, the dealers have a lot of respect for me and I try to make sure no one gets hurt.”
The need for more drugs is so strong, most addicts can’t work and resort to crime, he said.
“You totally forget how to care about people...you forget how to love,” he said. “Your only concern is getting enough money to get high again and if that means lying or stealing or prostituting yourself, then that’s what an addict will do.”
Since becoming a crack addict five years ago, O’Connor said he’s been rushed to hospital numerous times with overdoses, been shot at and stabbed more than once.
“I’ve flirted with death on many occasions,” said O’Connor. “How I’m still around after all I’ve been through is often a mystery to me.”
The only time O’Connor managed to stay clean in the past 30 years was a two-year stint in the early 1990s. He got a volunteer position helping other addicts.
“It was unbelievable how good those two years were,” he said. “I was helping people and I wasn’t seeing the constant grief, death and chaos that’s been such a big part of my life all these years.”
The level of degradation and debasement a crack addict will resort to is mind-boggling, he said.
“I’ve seen addicts dig through the pockets of dead people. I’ve seen people turn over their car ownership just so they can get high for one more night. I’ve seen mothers drag around their babies to crack houses at all hours of the morning. It’s sickening.”
Unlike its powdered cousin, crack cocaine is more insidious because it’s even more addictive and dealers know it, said O’Connor.
“The drug gangs from Toronto are up here in droves,” he said. “I know one dealer who bragged about making $100,000 in one week.
“These guys are absolutely ruthless. Many of them wear bulletproof vests and they’re carrying guns. It’s become a real epidemic in this city over the past year or two and it’s only getting worse.
“I can honestly tell you I know 50 people who have got hooked on this stuff in the past year and everyone one of them had good jobs and most had families and they’ve basically lost everything because of crack.”
Typically, dealers congregate around low-income housing projects and in areas where there are a number of addicts.
Dealers will offer some crack free of charge, get someone hooked and they will then run up a huge bill and use that person’s residence to run a “crack house,” usually only for a few days at a time, he said.
“Then they leave with tens of thousands of dollars in their pockets. Most of these guys don’t use themselves because they are in it strictly for the money. The amount of money that can be made in a short period of time is unbelievable.”
Orsino said O’Connor isn’t exaggerating.
“Here’s a drug where you get this incredible, euphoric high for maybe $10, but once you’re addicted and your tolerance builds, you need more and more,” he said.
“Most addicts I know tell me they can go through $100 in 20 minutes and many of them keep up that pace for days on end.”
The term “chasing the dragon” has been used to describe crack cocaine addiction as users never achieve recreating that first hit from a crack pipe.
“Initially, users feel like they’re superman and they feel great,” Orsino said. “However, like with all hard drugs, the euphoria goes away and you need more and more to get a strong high and eventually the only thing you think about is getting another score.”
Crack addicts invariably resort to criminal activity, he said.
“Eventually they just don’t care how they get the money,” he said.
Normally, they lie to borrow and steal from family and friends, then engage in “white collar crime” writing bad cheques and then resort to break and enters and other property crimes, he said.
Dealers are drawn from big cities to smaller communities such as Greater Sudbury because they can make more money here.
“The problem is so prevalent in Toronto and there’s so much crack available, the dealers can only get a certain price,” Orsino said. “These same dealers are now coming north knowing they can charge a lot more than they could ever get in Toronto.
“It’s all gang-related stuff and very organized and that’s why we have our work cut out for us as police officers.”
Greater Sudbury is also the largest city in Northern Ontario and while the dealers come here first, the problem is spreading to all cities and towns across the north, said Orsino.
Crack cocaine is a rare drug that attracts as many female consumers as male. Orsino estimates more than 60 percent of prostitutes in Greater Sudbury are crack cocaine addicts.
The scariest part of this scourge is the number of young people willing to try and get high from crack, said Orsino.
“Hard core drugs are in our high schools and crack cocaine is leading the way and that’s frightening,” he said. “This is a drug that quite literally destroys your life.”
The joint forces drug unit is concentrating on prevention and education initiatives and there are plans underway to bring recovering crack addicts into local high schools to try and dissuade young people from ever considering trying a hit from a crack pipe, he said.
Having quality rehabilitation programs in place are also crucial and the federal government has to start putting more money into programs to provide care for those who want to beat hard drug addictions, he said.
Police also know catching, arresting and putting high-end drug dealers behind bars is crucial, said Orsino.
“If we can reduce the supply and have these dealers looking over their shoulders and make some serious arrests, then we can make their business so unattractive, they might consider another way to make a living,” he said. “Going in and out of jail is not what these guys get into the drug dealing business for.”
Members of the public who see a large congregation of people coming and going from the same residence night after night should not be afraid to contact police, said Orsino.
“We’re shutting down more and more of these crack houses, but we need the public’s help,” he said.
