METH-LACED POT A HUGE PROBLEM, EXPERTS SAY

Police, Doctors Say Doctored Dope Is Getting Common

It's buyer beware when it comes to B.C. bud.

Both police and a leading psychiatrist said yesterday they are
beginning to see evidence of marijuana laced with highly addictive
crystal meth.

Dr. Bill MacEwan's advice? "Know your supplier. Know where the pot is
coming from."

MacEwan, a psychiatrist at St. Paul's Hospital who also heads the
schizophrenia program in the psychiatry department at the University
of B.C., says he's seeing patients who claim they only smoke
marijuana but in whose systems crystal meth is found.

Other doctors working in drug treatment have told him they're also
seeing strung-out patients who have smoked meth-laced pot, MacEwan says.

Knowing that pot is being laced with crystal meth is worrisome for
those in the health-care field, he notes.

"For a lot of people, it could take them by surprise," he says.

Meth is being added to pot because of its addictive qualities, MacEwan says.

"Drug dealers hypothetically are trying to get people hooked, and
crystal meth is a chemical addiction," he says. "You develop a market
when they're hooked on your product."

For some, MacEwan adds, it's more tempting to try crystal meth when
it's mixed in with pot -- "a more passive way to try crystal meth," he says.

The health risks of smoking the combined drugs can be serious or even
fatal, MacEwan notes. "You're not only getting high. It increases
your heart rate, it makes you very agitated, you go sleepless and
have anxiety," he says.

Delta Police Const. Kim Sheridan says police in that city are now
warning the public about the problem.

"We've received information through a variety of sources that this is
happening," says Sheridan.

"We want to get the word out there that this type of lacing marijuana
with crystal meth is happening throughout the Lower Mainland."

Sheridan says the laced pot may look the same but once smoked will
have a much different effect: "They are creating a new generation of addicts."

Cpl. Scott Rintoul of the RCMP Drug and Organized Crime Awareness
Service says that recently a North Vancouver youth told RCMP he knew
he was getting pot that had crystal meth in it.

Crystal meth sells cheaply and can be made from ingredients available
at local drug and hardware stores. It causes serious health problems,
including psychosis that follows a user's going days without sleep.

To air the menace of crystal meth, the solicitor-general's office is
sponsoring a series of public forums. The last will be held in Prince
George on Feb. 2 at the University of Northern B.C.