SUPERCHARGED STIMULANT POISED TO INVADE VICTORIA

You take cold remedy pills, dice them in a coffee grinder, and mix indrain
cleaner, farm fertilizer, lye and a host of other household products. What
do you get? A cheap, highly addictive and toxic potion, a drug that can be
smoked, snorted or injected. It has become a recipe for disaster in the
United States -- and it's coming this way.

Our exploration started with a simple conversation with the owner of a
Fairfield corner store.

The store owner found himself at the centre of media attention for
disarming a would-be robber wielding a knife. He hinted he might sell his
business, saying the neighbourhood has been flooded with "crystal meth"
users. Thefts, burglaries, car prowling and vandalism had all gone through
the roof.

Could this violence and crime all be traced to one drug? Accompanied by
cameraman Garry Frang, I met with RCMP Cpl. Pete Zubersky.

"This stuff is coming here, there's no doubt about that," he said. "It's
cheap, lethal and almost instantly you become addicted, and we're just
starting to see signs of it here."

Zubersky said meth rode into Canada, up the coast from California, on the
coattails of ecstasy, showing up at all-night dance parties, unbeknownst to
its customers.

In laboratory testing of ecstasy seized at rave parties, Zubersky said many
of tablets were laced with meth. He believes use of meth here is growing.

Zubersky suggested we take a look at Washington state, which has been mired
in a methaphetamine crisis for almost 10 years.

Methamphetamine, or meth, is a supercharged stimulant made of ingredients
from cold remedies and household items such as kerosene, batteries, lithium
and paint thinner. It gives users a massive boost of energy that can last
up to 12 hours. But it also causes a frenzied psychosis from which users
may never recover.

Evidence of its widespread use can be found in any of Washington's 39
counties. Labs have been busted in every county. Pierce County, which
boasts Tacoma as its biggest city, had the highest number of lab clean-ups
last year at 438. The previous year, the county peaked at 589.

Sgt. Tom Zweiger of the Washington State Patrol has been working on the
issue. He's familiar with the drug's powerful effect on users, how they
boast of reaching a euphoric state. But, he said, the drug proves too
difficult for users to live without, which generates anger and resentment.

As a result, said Zweiger, child abuse and domestic violence have jumped
dramatically. The state is apprehending more and more children from meth
users and cookers, creating a new family of unwanted kids.

Our nearest U.S. neighbours, a 90-minute ferry ride away in Port Angeles,
hold the dubious distinction of being home to one of the biggest labs
uncovered in the state. It was a super-lab, used to generate thousands of
hits of meth.

Canada is playing a huge role in the drug's production, through the
smuggling of ephedrine and pseudoephedrine into the U.S.

They provide the backbone of the drug. Their sale and possession are
tightly regulated in the U.S., but legislation is just being considered in
Canada.

"British Columbia has had a lax attitude when it comes to substance abuse,
it has a lax attitude when it comes to criminal activity and what should be
done," said Cpl. Scott Rintoul, the drug awareness coordinator at the
RCMP's B.C. headquarters.

Rintoul said opportunities to send a strong message to convicted drug
pushers and dealers weren't capitalized on. "The penalties weren't that
great and as a result we saw that increase. We feel the same could happen
for chemical labs."