ORGANIZED CRIME, CRYSTAL METH MOVING IN

RCMP, Youth Counsellor Speak To Parents About Being Vigilant With
Their Kids When It Comes To Drugs

With Asian drug gangs operating in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, and
crystal meth moving east, Island drug experts are advising parents to
stay closely involved in the daily life of their children.

RCMP Const. Reg Campbell and youth drug counsellor Kevin MacKinnon
were guest speakers at a recent parent information meeting co-hosted
by the Colonel Gray Home and School Association.

Only 15 people showed up for the workshop aimed at informing parents
about the state and nature of substance abuse on P.E.I.

The low number is normal for such public meetings, said MacKinnon.
Many people worry what people will think if parents attend such a
session, he said.

What parents should worry about is collecting knowledge about
substance abuse and passing it on to children starting when they are
young, said Campbell.

He told of going to an Island elementary school to intercept a Grade
6 student selling marijuana.

That marijuana is now much stronger than what parents may remember
from the 1960s and 70s.

Those first joints were three to four per cent active THC but now
Canada is gaining a reputation for its 15 to 24 and even up to 30 per
cent THC weed.

Homegrown has taken a whole new dimension with gangs buying up to a
dozen homes in Atlantic Canada and renovating them as indoor growing
operations.

"Organized crime is moving into our neighborhood," said Campbell.

Police have been infiltrating Asian gangs out West, which is causing
them to come east to set up networks that include sophisticated
indoor grow-ops found in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.

He said it will just be a matter of time before the highly addictive
crystal meth comes to Atlantic Canada.

Because of its extremely addictive nature, drug dealers are mixing
methamphetamine into ecstasy pills in hopes of creating a secure
repeat customer and the user is not aware of it, said Campbell.

Such pills, sold on the street as ecstasy, but containing
methamphetamine, have been found on P.E.I., he said.

The most common drug abused by youth on P.E.I. is alcohol, followed
very closely by marijuana and many times parents help it all happen,
said MacKinnon.

Parents attending the meeting agreed, saying they regularly see
adults allowing teens to drink at home parties and remarking: 'At
least it is not drugs.'

It is still illegal if the child is underage, said Campbell, and the
justification is misguided.

"If they are drinking at home, they are drinking (elsewhere too)," he
said. "Parents should not give permission for (under-age) drinking."

What they should do, said the two speakers, is learn the slang terms
for drugs, the signs of use and be aware of what children are doing
and saying and where they are going.