FORUMS ON CRYSTAL METH IN B.C. LAUNCHED TONIGHT IN KAMLOOPS

All Last Week The Province Profiled The Problem Of Crystal Meth In B.C.

Tonight in Kamloops we're hosting a community forum for residents of the
city, health-care providers, police and those who have struggled with the
drug to come together and talk action.

Among the speakers is Cpl. Scott Rintoul of the RCMP's drug awareness
section and 19-year-old Andrew Youds, a recovering meth addict. Youds will
be joined by his father Mike Youds, who writes for the Kamloops Daily News.

Province reporter Matthew Ramsey will also speak at the meeting.

The event runs from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Thompson Rivers University Grand
Hall, 900 McGill Rd. Admission is free.

The Kamloops forum will be followed by a forum in Victoria May 2 at Oak Bay
High West, 2101 Cadboro Bay Rd. The Victoria session, also free, gets under
way at 7 p.m. Speakers will include drug-awareness co-ordinator Const. Kim
Basi and Gord Robson, the Maple Ridge man whose work in profiling his
community's efforts in battling the drug have captured attention from as
far away as Hawaii.

A third session will be held May 3 at 7 p.m. at Surrey's Bell Centre for
Performing Arts, 6250 144th St. On stage that night will be Cpl. Scott
Rintoul, the mother of an addict who committed suicide and Dr. Bill
MacEwan, an expert in psychosis who will talk about how meth harms the
brain and has a potentially lifelong impact.

Finally, on May 5, a forum will run at John Oliver Secondary in Vancouver.
Featured speakers are the same as in Surrey.