THE PROVINCE
Sunday, September 27, 1998

Ann Rees
Staff Reporter

Addictions starting at age 18 took Mandy Blakemore above, from her loving family to a back alley, above left, with a crack pipe, begging police to let her die.

Nice kids die too

Heroin and cocaine overdose deaths in B.C. are up by 30 per cent over last year, and drug cops fear that suburban kids are becoming the vile trade's favourite customers. Many of the new users are teenagers looking for cheap thrill. And they've found it in crack -- rock-like crystallized cocaine that sells for $10 a hit and is as available as candy in Vancouver's downtown east side. It can quickly turn normal kids from good homes -- Like Many Blakemore, who died last month -- into desperate, ruthless addicts.


CBC TV

STORIES, Pages A3, A24-25

Mandy Blakemore... [Vancouver '98] [News by region] [News by topic]
Created: October 3, 1998
Last modified: October 4, 1998
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