CRYSTAL METH FEEDS USE OF INJECTION DRUGS

Prevalence Of Former Surprises B.C. Researchers

VANCOUVER -- Escalating crystal methamphetamine use is fuelling a
surge in the number of street youths using injection drugs in
Vancouver, the results of Canada's first ever large-scale survey of
crystal meth use among street kids shows.

The federally funded study found that crystal meth users surveyed
were four times more likely to inject drugs, compared to drug users
who didn't use crystal meth.

The study's authors, from the B.C. Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS,
were shocked by some of their 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, said Wood.

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," said Wood.

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," said Wood.

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 found 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.