TRAINING TO FIGHT CRYSTAL METH

Police officers in training will soon attend classes to learn how to
properly investigate and dismantle marijuana and crystal meth labs.

On Monday, the provincial Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional
Services said it will provide $230,000 to the Ontario Provincial College to
build mock illegal drug labs.

Niagara Regional Police Chief Wendy Southall welcomed the news, but said
police were not notified by the ministry of any plans to improve drug lab
training for officers.

"I welcome anything that is being done from a provincial perspective and I
am sure if it is a well-researched, well-developed program we would jump on
board with," Southall said.

"But at this time, I do not know the particulars."

Southall said anything that will improve the safety of officers dealing
with illegal labs is helpful.

Both marijuana grows and meth labs are serious fire risks.

Meth labs present a serious risk because of the presence of several types
of corrosive and explosive chemicals used to make the drug.

The NRP has in its budget money for officer safety training specifically
aimed at grow operations, Southall said.

"But we do not have $230,000 to do this, so we will take advantage of
anything that is being offered."

The announcement was part of an effort by Queen's Park to fight the spread
of the highly addictive synthetic drug.

In June, a crystal meth working group was created by the ministry to find
ways to combat the spread of crystal meth.

Seventeen meth labs have been raided in Ontario in the last two years, most
of them in the Perth County area, where several of the chemicals needed to
make crystal meth, particularly fertilizers, can be easily found.

While the government task force is still working on a strategy, pharmacies
are moving to tackle the problem.

By October, the Ontario Pharmacists Association hopes to be in classrooms
as part of an educational outreach program highlighting the dangers of
crystal meth.

The association is planning a "meth watch" program that would see
pharmacists improve monitoring of the sale of drugs containing
pseudoephedrine, a critical ingredient for making crystal meth.

However, at least one local pharmacist believes the most effective way of
monitoring the distribution of pseudoephedrine is at the level of the drug
wholesaler.

Tom McAnulty of Climie's Pharmacy on Carlton Street in St. Catharines said
wholesalers keep track of what drugs are sold to pharmacies and in what
quantities.

"So if they see a 300 per cent increase in a particular drug to a pharmacy,
that might mean someone has bought up 10 cases of it," McAnulty said.

He said pharmacists routinely monitor the sale of several drugs, such as
those containing codeine. But it would be impossible to monitor every sale
of every product on the shelves.

"And this is just assuming they (crystal meth makers) are coming in and
buying it," McAnulty said. "They can be stealing it, which has happened,
and a pharmacy will just restock."

But that act of restocking will mean another purchase from a wholesaler,
which can be easily tracked.

McAnulty said effectively tracking the sale of pseudoephedrine drugs from
wholesalers would likely require police to get a court order, but the
effort would be worth it.

The news from the ministry came the same day Niagara Regional Police
announced another crystal meth-related arrest in St. Catharines. Officers
from the NRP street crime unit discovered a marijuana grow operation in a
Haynes Avenue home Sunday while responding to a 911 call. Officers used a
warrant to seize 109 marijuana plants worth approximately $100,000 on the
street, police say.

Police also seized cocaine worth $200, crystal meth worth $700 and ecstasy
pills worth about $300.

NRP spokesman Constable Sal Basilone said police do not yet know where
these other drugs were purchased or manufactured.

Jeffery Mackiddie, 43, of St. Catharines, was charged with four counts of
possession of a controlled substance for the purpose of trafficking.

Basilone said investigators have identified a second suspect in the case,
but police would not release that person's name Monday.