SLOWING DOWN THE SPREAD OF CRYSTAL METH

Since early summer, a working group under Solicitor General Heather
Forsyth's department has been quietly devising a strategy to tackle
the growing use of methamphetamines in cities and small towns around
Alberta.

We hope to see the minister's plans soon. This dangerous, highly
addictive, cheap drug is taking a growing toll both in Edmonton and
nearby communities.

The surge in "crystal meth" use came on quickly in the last two years,
say police. The victims, often young people, get quickly addicted to
the potent, hallucinogenic, stimulant.

The violent behaviour induced by the drug also presents a danger to
others. And the toxic fumes from the labs in which it is made can pose
a serious health hazard to police, emergency workers and unsuspecting
neighbours.

In a recent case, two young women sent to clean up an Edmonton
apartment used as a meth lab immediately became ill from the fumes. A
month later, when they went back to do the job, they still had signs
of liver damage, says Ewe Terner, technical adviser for the Edmonton
emergency response department. Their symptoms were a sign of exposure
to phosphene gas, a byproduct of meth production and a poison gas used
as a nerve agent in the First World War.

More than 15 substances, from paint thinner to ether and red
phosphorus, go into producing meth. For each kilogram of finished
drug, five to seven kilograms of toxic byproducts are created. With no
controls on where that waste goes, it ends up in ditches, down the
sewer or in dumpsters, all of which exposes the community to
additional environmental threats.

Since September 2002, police have broken up 13 labs in the Edmonton
area. (I n 1998, only two clandestine labs were seized in all of
Canada). Two of the 13 were "super labs" capable of cooking $1 million
worth of product in 24 hours: one in a big new house in Riverbend, and
the other in a west-end industrial area.

While methamphetamines have surfaced in the past, this time there's
also a problem in smaller centres in rural Alberta, such as Leduc,
Drayton Valley, Bonnyville and Camrose.

With commendable foresight, Forsyth last summer began to look at the
issue. She has tried to rally other provinces to push for needed
changes to federal legislation to control the sale of the
over-the-counter chemical ingredients.

Last November, she toured three U.S. cities, including Denver,
Colorado, which is fighting an epidemic of meth. Many U.S. states have
already restricted sale of these chemicals, and the RCMP has warned
that Canada is becoming a chemical supplier to the super meth labs in
California.

On a more local, immediate level, Forsyth is working to get
pharmacists to limit the sale of cold remedies, a key ingredient.
Chemical companies can be encouraged to do the same.

Edmonton's drug squad is ramping up its efforts. Officers have been
sent to the U.S. for training.

What's also needed is a major education campaign to alert the
community to the dangerous substance and to bolster those tried and
true methods for keeping kids out of drugs -- good parenting and a
mobilized community.

At this point, meth addiction affects a much smaller number of young
people than alcohol and marijuana abuse, says Marilyn Mitchell,
manager of youth services at the Alberta Alcohol and Drug Addiction
Commission. And the same strategies that work to keep young people
free of alcohol problems apply to meth abuse, she adds.

If Forsyth carries through with concrete action, she may well play an
important part in getting a handle on this dangerous substance before
it becomes a major social problem.