CRYSTAL METH SUMMIT IMPRESSIVE IN BREADTH

Knowledge Is Power and St. Marys Attendees Learned Plenty About The
Dangerous Drug

Knowledge and a uniform response to the hazards of crystal meth were
the key points of last Friday's Crystal Meth Summit, organized by the
Perth County Task Force on Crystal Meth. Over 200 police officers,
EMS workers, local politicians and social workers attended the
daylong event, far exceeding expectations. Catherine Hardman,
executive director of addictions counselling group Choices for Change
and task force member, said that "the issue is what attracted people
to the event."

Mayor Jamie Hahn and councillors Bill Mustard and Bill Osborne
attended the summit from St. Marys. Hahn, who will now represent St.
Marys on the task force, commented that "it's pretty scary stuff and
it's pretty costly -- it's no wonder that the group is increasingly
concerned with the number of illegal labs permeating Perth County and
St. Marys."

Hahn's concerns lie with increasing public awareness of the drug's
danger to ward off potential users and the length of prison terms for
those convicted for possession and trafficking.

For his part, Mustard says that he learned two main things at the
summit: the amount of community concern for the matter, and the
"huge" danger it poses to the community, not only in terms of the
drug's addictiveness, but in terms of dealing with booby-trapped and
toxic labs.

While Mustard acknowledges that police have strict regulations to
follow in order to build a proper case against suspected producers,
"I really don't want a volunteer firefighter dead."

He is also interested in learning how to keep youth away from the
drug, by using their peers and trained professionals to keep kids
busy and positive. "Like anybody, I want to run around and do
something right now, but it's inappropriate to do anything when
you're angry," he says in regards to dealing with the drug on any front.

Osborne attended the breakout session on treatment and says that the
before and after images were alarming. "I just cannot imagine that
someone else (a dealer) would want to do this to someone -- it's immoral."

He adds that he is interested in what makes people willing to try
such a devastating drug in the first place. "They talked about
choices a lot and we have to teach our kids to make wise choices,"
Osborne believes, adding that the overall situation is very
frustrating to deal with because it is so far-reaching, and that
"town council will have to depend upon the experts and be supportive
wherever we can be."

Perth County has long been recognized as Ontario's birthplace of
crystal meth, starting in the early 2000s when Dan McCool obtained
the recipe in Texas as the selling price for a used truck, according
to Stratford Police Sgt. Mike Bellai, who presented during the
summit. McCool then moved back to the area and started selling and
producing meth. The area achieved nation-wide notoriety, however,
when the Toronto Star pinpointed Stratford and Perth in a 2004
feature on the drug.

Since then, the number of production labs in the area has decreased,
but the problem of the highly addictive and dangerous drug is as
strong as ever, now that purer and more potent forms are infiltrating
the area thanks to Asian and Mexican organized crime imports.

Residual crime (users committing thefts to pay for their addiction),
toxic labs and hazardous waste from these labs have all proved
problematic for the Stratford force. The fact that many users and
producers have children living with them is also of great concern to
the police, Children's Aid services and the task force as a whole; a
photo of two officers at a local lab bust, dressed in gas masks and
HAZMAT gear, and holding an infant wearing only a diaper elicited
gasps from the attendees.

The photo was just one of many disturbing items pointed out by Bellai
during his presentation -- that Perth County is on the leading edge
of dealing with the fallout from crystal meth without much guidance
or precedence is another.

During a breakout session for first responders (such as EMS workers
and fire fighters), the fact that little regulations are in place for
dealing with labs was stressed. As most Perth labs are in primarily
rural areas, fire departments -- often volunteer squads with few
resources -- are often first on the scene when one explodes or is
located. Considering the proven toxicity levels at these labs, there
was great concern expressed over protecting these first responders
while ensuring that the sites are secured for police investigations.

After the summit, North Perth mayor and task force member Ed
Hollinger said that the first responders' group would ideally like a
clear and uniform guide on how to respond to crystal meth-related calls.

"It was interesting how blame (for lack of a cohesive response) was
put on one party and then the other," Hollinger commented, but he
lauded the Perth Task Force on its initiative in trying to take
control of the crystal meth situation. "The challenge is out there
for attendees to do something similar (to us)," he said of the
summit, adding that "then it's up to the province and federal
government" to enact more stringent laws and regulations.

On the judicial end, federal crown prosecutor for the Stratford area,
John Sipos, said that dealing with crystal meth "is becoming much
more work than I ever anticipated," and that "the penalties are there
and they are being applied...people in possession can anticipate
going to jail."

This is thanks, in part, to the Attorney General's decision in July
2005 to push meth up from a "schedule 3" drug to "schedule 1," which
also covers heroin, morphine and cocaine -- the most addictive and
dangerous drugs.

Sipos also explained that charges of trafficking and possession with
the intent to traffic can carry a maximum term of life imprisonment,
and also require reverse onus during bail hearings -- the accused has
to prove why they should be released instead of the crown arguing why
they shouldn't be.

"It's a considerable advantage to a prosecuting crown," Sipos
explained, adding that he also requests jail time for "simple"
possession for intent to use. "For most people, regardless of their
record, this jolt would be appropriate" to get them on the road to
recovery, Sipos said, "but I think one of the real difficulties
is...that they still use (even after they get out of jail) and I
think it indicates the severity of the addiction."

Despite the intensity and destructiveness of crystal meth in Perth, a
recent youth focus group study that was sponsored by the task force
revealed that meth is not the overriding drug of choice in the county
- -- contrary to public perception.

Tracy Allan Koester, director of community health for the Perth
District Health Unit, told attendees that marijuana and alcohol abuse
are far more prevalent that crystal meth use in Perth, and that
keeping people, especially youth, away from all drugs requires a
community response.

The focus groups suggested that supporting youth by offering
activities, finding a role for them to play in a community and
teaching them coping mechanisms would be more beneficial than a
simple "just say no" method.

The next step for the task force is to expand the results of the
focus groups into an 18-month awareness project, providing that a
Trillium grant application is accepted.

And, while Hardman suggested immediately after the summit's close
that there were enough people wanting to attend but had to be turned
away, there are no immediate plans to repeat the conference or make
it an annual event to chart progress.

However, for Hollinger, he says that while the task force is not done
its work "by a long shot, the more we can spread it (our information
and methods) around the province, the more effective it will be."