Drug Addiction in Winnipeg, Manitoba

Winnipeg is not so different from other towns and cities across the nation. It has its dark side too. This is the side that most people do not see and is seldom shown to outsiders.  There is a side of Winnipeg that is filled with drug and alcohol addiction, with their illegal sale, with the trafficking and the violence that seems to go with this world. This is where Winnipeg is not so different; this is an all too common problem all across Canada, and the United States for that matter.  Research is showing more and more that the drug trade is on the rise that the use of drugs and alcohol by our young people is actually increasing despite all the drug and alcohol abuse education.

Very recently in September 2010 a huge marijuana grow operation was taken down by local police authorities. The growth operation that was set up could have potentially have sustained some 2000 plants had it been in full operation. That would have brought about a lot of people being drug addicted. As it was the police seized around 590 marijuana plants which alone held a street value of over $630,000.  Marijuana is a problem in Winnipeg just as much as most anywhere else. Even more recent was a police seizure of almost one million dollars worth of marijuana plants in Winnipeg. There were approximately 880 plants seized in the one home alone, not to mention the other drug paraphernalia.

Prescription drugs addiction is also a problem and the violence that can accompany their acquisition. A man was recently arrested in Winnipeg for holding up a large number of pharmacies for the prescription drug Oxycontin. His younger brother drove the getaway car. Oxycontin when sold on the street to addicts can bring in some instances almost a 400% profit. Prescription drug abuse and the sale of them illegally is something that is growing in every city across Canada.

^{References: http://winnipeg.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20110105/wpg_drug_arrest_110105/20110105/?hub=WinnipegHome
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/Police-find-nearly-1-million-worth-of-drgs-118122369.html
http://www.winnipegsun.com/news/winnipeg/2011/01/20/16963701.html}