CRYSTAL METH A TOXIC THREAT TO OUR YOUNG

A significant number of Canadian high school principals feel student
alcohol and illegal drug use is impacting academic performance. According
to a recent education survey by the Organization for Economic Development,
32 per cent of high school principals in Canada, compared with 9.9 per cent
of principals in all 41 countries surveyed, have identified a concern.

This concern among Canadian principals has jumped nearly 50 per cent (up
from 21.7 per cent) since the last survey in 2000.

What are the emerging drug trends in Canada? Youth are also consuming more
alcohol and cannabis. Poly drug use and chemical cocktail party drugs are
also on the rise, and crystal meth is making an appearance.

Survey numbers reported at the Western Summit on Methamphetamine last month
pegged local high school use of party drugs at 13.6 per cent. This includes
five per cent meth, 12 per cent ecstacy, four per cent Ketamine and four
per cent GHB. On the West Coast, at least half of ecstasy also contains
meth. That makes 11 per cent of our high school students exposed to meth use.

Crystal meth is highly addictive, cheap and gives a long-lasting high. It
can keep you awake, keep you going, make you lose weight and feel invincible.

And it can kill your brain cells, cause your teeth to rot, make you
paranoid and psychotic. You can lose your place in school, lose your job,
your relationships, your housing and your body while using. You can die.

Recent research shows that meth addicts, like cocaine addicts, can recover.
But it takes longer, and the jury is out about total restoration of
cognitive function, especially if you use the drug while your brain is
still developing.

It takes a disproportionate amount of resources to deal with the crystal
meth in treatment and enforcement terms. There is also environmental risk,
increased crime, a risk of injury to first responders, and the social costs
of a population of cognitively impaired youth.

Meth labs are costly to shut down. It's not only the police who need to
attend, but also the fire department due to the likelihood of explosions,
and the health department because of the high level of toxins produced in
cooking meth. For every pound of meth, seven pounds of toxic waste end up
in the drain, where they pollute.

I spent a day in Washington state last spring, along with Victoria Coun.
Dean Fortin, investigating the impact of crystal meth. Meth use has grown
like wildfire in the western part of the country. Everyone we talked to
reported an explosive growth in use and production.

In Washington, the number of meth labs identified in 1998 was 300. In 2003
it was 1,300. The problem is so large there is a specialized foster parent
program for the children of meth labs.

Crystal meth is on the rise here as well.

At the Western Summit on Methamphetamine, 250 policy makers, law
enforcement officials, first responders, treatment and program personnel
parents and users spent three days examining the arrival and impact of
methamphetamine.

Presentations confirmed that the use and production of meth is on the rise
and the use of this drug spreading from west to east across the country, as
it did in the U.S. The number of clandestine labs where meth is cooked are
increasing. Hospital emergency rooms are reporting more intake as a result
of meth use. Coroners are reporting more deaths associated with meth.

We need to take steps to avoid the kind of exponential explosion of crystal
meth use seen in the United States. If our community can be effective in
prevention and enforcement, we'll be able to preserve treatment and harm
reduction strategies for other challenges.

We need a community action plan. We need to get everyone at the table:
police, youth-serving agencies and health authorities to create an
effective intervention on emerging drug trends.

While the province has developed a paper on crystal meth, it needs to do
more. In this climate of cutbacks, cash-strapped agencies don't have the
wherewithal to co-ordinate a community action plan.

It's time for the province to create a fund so action can be taken where it
counts: in our communities and with our youth.