ALCOHOL TOPS PUBLIC'S ABUSE LIST

While Saskatchewan residents are more concerned with growing crystal meth
abuse in the province, police and RCMP say, for the time being, cocaine is
the more common drug.

A new poll, commissioned by the Leader-Post, Saskatoon Star-Phoenix and
Global TV and performed by Sigma Analytics, shows the public believes
alcohol, followed by marijuana and crystal meth are the most abused
substance in the province. Talwin/Ritalin, cocaine and solvent abuse,
respectively, were considered less widespread. Regina respondents ranked
the substances in the same order.

Regina Police Chief Cal Johnston said while alcohol abuse is certainly the
biggest problem they face on a day-to-day basis, cocaine is probably next
on that list and is, for now, a bigger problem than crystal meth.

"At the current time, (crystal meth) is not what I would characterize as
the most serious drug of abuse in Saskatchewan or in our community," he
said after addressing politicians at the crystal meth summit Friday in
Regina. "However, that needs to be understood that the use of
methamphetamine is spreading regionally and into pockets. So there are
pockets in Saskatchewan where methamphetamine is a very serious problem.
It's not so much so in Regina as perhaps in the North and some smaller
communities."

Crystal meth has gained much attention in recent months because of its
debilitating effect on addicts.

The drug is cheap to buy and is causing growing problems not just in urban
populations but also in rural and reserve settings.

Brian Checkley, an addictions counsellor at the Metis Addictions Council of
Saskatchewan Inc., said he hasn't dealt with a lot of crystal meth addicts
in Regina and sees more cocaine and Talwin/Ritalin addicts than anything
else. That, however, doesn't mean the problem isn't growing.

"Crystal meth is probably, across the province, being abused more than the
Ts and Rs. North of us seems to be where the crystal meth issue is -- it
really seems to be more of a stronghold.

"People have a pretty good idea. Alcohol is still I think up there as
number 1. There's a lot of focus on the crystal meth but there also still a
lot of cocaine and crack that are available."

Chief Supt. Raf Souccar, the director general of drug enforcement and
organized crime for the RCMP, said while crystal meth isn't the drug of
choice now, that doesn't mean use isn't high and that it won't be on top again.

"The problem certainly goes in cycles when it come to methamphetamines. It
was high during the late 70s, early 80s," he said. "Then the cycle went
down and it's back up again."

The study also found that while cocaine ranked behind crystal meth and
Talwin/Ritalin in perceived use, 22.7 per cent of respondents actually knew
someone who had abused cocaine compared with 19.6 per cent for meth and
14.2 per cent for Talwin/Ritalin. Nearly 87 per cent said they knew someone
who had abused alcohol while 43.5 per cent knew a person who abused marijuana.

Residents of northern areas of the province, particularly Prince Albert,
also perceived more drug use than those in the south. Areas along the
Yellowhead Highway were also perceived to have higher rates of substance abuse.

RCMP said in terms of crystal meth, Saskatoon and the Melfort/Naicam area
have been identified as spots of high use.

And while the poll showed crystal meth slightly lower on the list of
widespread abuse, people in Saskatchewan do believe it has the worst affect
on addicts. Respondents said alcohol had the next worst effect followed by
cocaine, solvents, Talwin/Ritalin and marijuana.

"Methamphetamine is an incredibly dangerous substance and it has a terrible
effect on users," said Johnston.

"And that effect due to behaviour of users as well as the chemical itself
spills across into families and communities and emergency service
providers. The use of it would appear to be growing."

Sigma Analytics is a Saskatchewan firm providing data mining and modelling,
attitudinal polling and market research.

The poll consists of 800 telephone interviews conducted with Saskatchewan
residents aged 18 years or older in late May.

The results from a sample of this size are considered to be accurate within
plus or minus 3.5 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.