CRYSTAL METH ADDICTION NOT PRETTY

It Was Standing Room Only in Lake Cowichan's Lower Centennial Hall
Last April As 250 People Attended a Three-Hour Crystal Meth Forum.

The forum heard about the devastating impact of what was described as
a destructive drug on so many levels of the community, from the
personal to the community costs.

It's not a pretty picture, but it's a picture we must look at, said
Cpl. Beth Blackburn of the RCMP Drug and Organized Crime Awareness Service.

"The damage is huge," said Blackburn, who presented a variety of
statistics, slides and videos to support her claim. Some of the most
shocking slides were of a woman addicted to crystal meth whose skin
was covered with marks and scabs, including some on her back large
enough to put a finger in.

Other slides showed rotting teeth as another side effect of crystal meth use.

Blackburn said the results of crystal meth use impact the individual,
the family, friends and the community.

The individual ends up ruining his or her health, gets involved in
crime and often winds up in jail or prison.

Family is affected by the emotional trauma of seeing a loved one's
life in a tail spin.

The community is affected by the loss of a productive citizen, the
cost of the crimes committed and suffers some of the same trauma as the family.

Multiply the costs if there's a crystal meth lab in your community.

Cpl. Brian Brown of the Lake Cowichan RCMP, who helped put the forum
on, said the toughest challenge the police have is finding enough
evidence to make a conviction stick.

That costs money and time, neither of which they have much of.

"It's a very difficult situation," said Brown. "To a large extent,
our hands are tied. The fact is, we need the community's help in
stopping all drug use."

Dr. Darryl Plecas, RCMP research chair at the University College of
the Fraser Valley's School of Criminology and Criminal Justice, said
the odds are some youth at Cowichan Lake use crystal meth.

He said in the United States and European countries, drug use has
gone down since 1996, down in every grade level and with every kind
of drug, as well as with alcohol and cigarettes.

He added that in the U.S., while drug use and production has gone
down, young peoples' awareness of the harms of drugs went up.

Not so in B.C., he noted. "In B.C. it's going in the opposite
direction," said Plecas.

"Why is that? It's almost like we're sitting on the fence with this.
We don't seem to have the government thrust and we don't have a public outrage.

"Up to now sentencing has been pretty tame. The same with grow-ops.
Conditional sentences don't work. In England it's called catch and
convict. In B.C. it's catch and release."

Plecas said people can do something about it by talking to the
politicians and the judges.

"Arguably, we don't have enough education in our schools and from parents."

Plecas urged parents to use the Internet to get information on
crystal meth and other drugs, but cautioned that many Web sites will
say these drugs are beneficial.

One Web site he suggested is www.methresources.gov, which has many
links to other good sites.

Web site www.methwatch.ca was suggested by Blackburn.

Some of the youth who attended the forum say they learned a lot.

"I didn't think this many people would come," said 12-year-old Jack
Knudsen, who listened intently for most of the evening.

"I didn't think this many people cared. I guess I was wrong."

Sasha Brint said she learned that drugs are not good for you.

"I learned that crystal meth is bad," she said. "I'm never going to
do it. I don't like drugs."