STREET KIDS USING CRYSTAL METH AT 'ALARMING' RATE

'I Don't Think Anybody Knew It Was That Pervasive In That
Population,' Says One Author Of Large-Scale Survey

Injection drug use is on the rise among street youth in Vancouver,
fuelled by alarming rates of crystal methamphetamine use, a new study
has found.

The federally funded study, written by medical researchers with the
B.C. Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, found that crystal meth users
surveyed were four times more likely to inject drugs, compared to
drug users who didn't use crystal meth.

It's the first time a large-scale survey of crystal meth use among
street youth has been undertaken in Canada.

And researchers were shocked by some of its findings, particularly
around the sheer prevalence of the drug.

About 75 per cent of participating street youth reported crystal meth
use -- a number one of the study authors described as "highly alarming."

"I don't think anybody knew it was that pervasive in that
population," said Dr. Evan Wood.

"We're dealing with a crystal methamphetamine epidemic here."

By comparison, only about 15 per cent of addicts on Vancouver's
drug-hardened Downtown Eastside reported crystal meth use.

According to Wood, the study raises serious concerns that this highly
addictive and dangerous street drug is creating a whole new
generation of injection drug users. With it comes widespread health
care implications linked to increased drug overdoses and HIV/AIDS and
hepatitis C infection rates.

Already both HIV and hepatitis C have been detected among local
street youth, Wood. aid

The study findings also raise questions around crystal meth injection
rates among youth outside the street culture, given the widespread
prevalence of the drug in small towns and suburban neighbourhoods
across the country.

Nearly 500 Vancouver street youth between the ages of 14 and 26 years
took part in the study, which spanned September 2005 to October 2006.
Most of the participants said they were either living on the streets
or spent a significant portion of their day out on the streets.

"They are people living on the margins of society," Wood sai .

The findings will be published this May in the Australia-based
journal, The Drug and Alcohol Review.

Among other critical findings, the study found that 95 per cent of
the youth who reported crystal meth use said it was "very easy" to
obtain the drug, while the remaining five per cent said it was "easy" to get.

"It's out there," Wood said.

Eighty per cent of first-time crystal meth users said they were given
the drug as a "gift" at a party with friends, and most were sober
when they used it.

The study also found that 25 per cent of first-time crystal meth
users injected the drug, while the majority either smoked, snorted or
swallowed it.

However, said Wood, the rate of injection goes up steadily among
those who continue to use the drug.

"Even when we adjusted for all kinds of variables, there seems to be
this link between crystal methamphetamine and injection drug use," Wood said.

Wood said the study did not address why users choose to inject
crystal meth. That question will be among the many yet to be answered
as researchers continue to probe the issue over the next five years.

"What leads people to pick up a needle and begin injecting is really
a mystery," he said. Researchers are hoping the current study results
will catch the interest of federal drug policy makers in Canada,
whose current focus is on supply reduction.

"I do think we need to really start to consider where we are putting
our efforts and our resources," Wood said. "Given what we are facing
with drugs in society, we really need to start looking at the
scientific evidence and modifying what we are doing to address these issues."