CRYING OUT TO BE SCARED OFF

If the federal government wants to crack down on crystal meth, it must do
more than hit producers, users and traffickers with jail time. It needs to
launch an education campaign aimed at teenagers, much like the anti-smoking
campaigns the latest StatsCan figures show are working.

Just as kids were shown smoke-blackened, cancerous lungs, they should learn
about such things as "meth mouth," caused by the body excreting the drug.
For days after its use, the crystals ooze from the skin and literally rot
the gums from accumulation.

Kids aren't easily scared by the threat of being caught doing drugs. Their
innate, if misguided, teenage invulnerability convinces them otherwise.
They are, however, affected by graphic campaigns that pull no punches, as
the drop in teen smoking in Alberta shows.

The premiers meeting in Banff have wisely agreed to a multiple approach to
the problem, which encompasses enforcement, treatment options, awareness
campaigns and better control of substances used to make the drug.

Crystal meth is a dangerous, highly addictive drug with hideous effects.
Let's tell kids so in no uncertain terms.