POLICE ON LOOKOUT FOR CRYSTAL METH LABS

REGINA -- As police deal with a growing problem of crystal methamphetamine
use in the province, the biggest need may be for a team to clean up highly
dangerous drug labs if they spread to rural Saskatchewan.

Sgt. Jerome Engele, in charge of operations for the Saskatoon Police
Service/RCMP integrated drug unit, said there are 11 police officers in the
province trained to respond to the labs.

While large city fire departments have hazardous material units that can
help with the take-down and decontamination of the labs, there's a concern
over the availability of training and equipment in rural areas, he said.

There are also big questions over who will pay the cost of decontamination,
he added.

"It would be ideal if you had a lab team equipped with all the equipment
that we have, so that one or two teams, one for the south, one for the
north, can respond to anywhere in Saskatchewan. That would be ideal but
it's very costly," said Engele in an interview Wednesday.

Crystal meth is cooked using pharmaceuticals and dangerous materials such
as anhydrous ammonia, lithium from batteries and drain cleaner. The labs
can explode or give off poisonous gases.

Police have taken down one lab in Saskatoon that they suspect was used to
make crystal meth but Engele said police suspect there are more in the city
and rural areas.

He pointed out that in North Dakota there were about 350 such labs running
last year.

"Saskatchewan is very similar in its lay of the land. We're a farming
community, we've got a lot of free space, we've got a lot of empty farm
homesteads where people can move in and use it as a lab to cook," said Engele.

Crystal meth use is growing because it's a cheap and highly-addictive drug,
he said.

In Saskatoon there were 58 arrests or seizures connected to the drug in
2003, compared to none in 2000. In the first 15 days of 2004 alone, there
were 10 arrests or seizures.

In Regina however, there have been only three crystal meth arrests in the
last six months.

Crystal meth was raised as an issue at the legislature Wednesday, with the
Saskatchewan Party calling on the province to launch an integrated strategy.

Opposition Leader Brad Wall said he wants to see health, education and law
enforcement departments work together to deal with the cheap and
highly-addictive drug.

"We raise it because we want to raise awareness about it," he told
reporters following a question period devoted mostly to the issue.

"Does the government have a handle on the prevalence of it, how widespread
it is in Saskatchewan and secondly, what is the government doing? Is there
a strategy? Other provinces are looking at interdepartmental strategies,
some have implemented them already."

Justice Minister Frank Quennell said government agencies have been dealing
with crystal methamphetamine on all three fronts.

New government legislation will provide additional tools to deal with drug
houses and the province has been in discussions with the federal government
about toughening laws dealing with substances used to make crystal meth, he
said.

Quennell said he would be willing to talk to local police authorities about
decontamination of rural labs.

Learning Minister Andrew Thomson said Saskatchewan schoolchildren study a
curriculum that promotes healthy lifestyles and stresses the importance of
avoiding drugs.

There will likely be an increased emphasis on crystal meth as part of that
curriculum, he said.

"I think we should, as this drug becomes the drug of choice, we need to
become more aware of it and we need to make sure we emphasize that within
the school system so that young people understand this is one thing they
may be approached on," he said.