WHAT ALBERTA CAN LEARN FROM SPOKANE'S WAR ON DRUGS

Meth Epidemic Exploded In U.S. City

A Washington State Patrol crime lab chemist, holds a vial of liquid that is
a step away from becoming meth.

It's often said that cancer touches everyone in one way or another --
either they get it themselves or know someone who is affected.

In that sense, crystal meth is a cancer in Spokane County, Wash.

Even if someone never gets addicted to meth, they feel its effect when
addicts steal, neglect their children or contaminate their homes with
dangerous chemicals.

Like the fight against cancer, Spokane's victories against meth are
hard-earned, the result of considerable effort, research and innovation.

There are lessons in Spokane's experience for Alberta, which has a
growing meth problem.

Methamphetamine started showing up in the late 1990s, slowly at first.
Overnight, the number of clandestine labs making meth exploded -- as
did the number of people using it.

"It caught us totally off-guard," says Lieut. Darrell Toombs of the
Spokane Police Department.

Police responded with a concerted effort, and have dramatically cut
the number of labs.

The number has stayed down, thanks to public awareness that helped
prevent criminals from buying the ingredients needed to make meth.

But a voracious appetite for meth still exists, so the supply simply
comes from somewhere else.

Dealing with addiction and the upheaval it creates remains a challenge
for police, lawmakers and agencies in Spokane and the surrounding county.