AG STAYS COOL TO NDP CRYSTAL METH PROPOSAL

The NDP is urging Solicitor General John Les to re-think his position
on crystal meth prevention after the union representing B.C. police
officers endorsed Opposition legislation.

The B.C. Federation of Police Officers offered its support for the
Crystal Meth Prevention Act, introduced by NDP MLA Jagrup Brar last
week. But Les remained lukewarm Monday to Brar's bill, which would
restrict the display and sale by pharmacies of ingredients used to
make crystal meth.

The solicitor general said information he has received from police
shows the vast majority of B.C. crystal meth operations are fuelled by
bulk import of ephedrine and pseudoephedrine from Asia. And, he said,
the federal government should do more to regulate their import into
the country.

Restricting display of cold remedies, including these ingredients, to
behind the counter of pharmacies and making it mandatory for
pharmacists to dispense them -- which the legislation would mandate --
is unnecessary, he said.

"I've had lots of input on that issue in the past and it indicates
very clearly that in British Columbia, our issue is the bulk
importation of ephedrines and pseudoephedrines and that the use of
cold remedies and other items like that is simply not an issue here,"
Les said.

Last week, Les said that if police inform him a different approach is
necessary "we'll go there." But the police federation's support of
the NDP's bill apparently isn't enough.

"I haven't had a chance to examine closely the statement by the
federation of police," Les said. "And when I get input in terms of
policing, I usually get that input [from] the police management ..."

Les said his information comes from raw police data, "not a police
federation or interest group."

"I never dismiss anything out of hand, typically, but it does somewhat
contradict the information I've been given in the past with respect to
where the crystal meth ingredients in the province are coming from,"
he said.

Limiting sale of ingredients by pharmacies has been effective in the
mid-U.S. states and prairie provinces, Les said. But federal
regulation is the key in B.C., he said, adding that Health Canada must
do more to monitor the bulk imports of ephedrine and pseudoephedrine
from Asia.

"It's my view, and I've communicated this to the federal government,
that they do not do an adequate job of restricting the importation of
ephedrine and pseudoephedrine."