Cocaine has a habit of changing lives when it is used, transported or sold. The substance is illegal and highly addictive. In Ottawa, it has become a source of problem addiction, according to an Ottawa Citizen report.

Everyone who is involved will report the same thing – this isn’t a war against drugs, but rather an ongoing battle that doesn’t seem to be going away. The Ottawa police chief points to the battle being waged by the addict himself, noting he has yet to meet an addict who actually enjoys having the addiction.

An addiction is about so much more than just the drug. For many, desperation leads to crime. To look for their next fix, they might steal a car, shoplift, sell their bodies or anything else they find necessary to get the money they need to feed the habit.

Those close to the problem claim there are 5,000 crack addicts within Ottawa. There are as many as 6,000 intravenous drug users and another half or more crack addicts who do not take the drug intravenously.

A major sweep earlier in June, counted as the third major sweep in the last 18 months, police arrested 84 alleged dealers in an operation known as Project Woody. The task force involved in this sweep anticipates a total of 322 charges.

Even with this progress, there are critics who claim they are really just temporary solutions that shift the pressure from one place to another. One program highly supported in the area is that of the needle-exchange program. The city has distributed 500,000 sterile needle syringes in the last year and received 676,000 used needles in return.