CRYSTAL METH USERS CAN FIND HELP

The Kootenays Haven't Been Hit As Hard With the Methamphetamine Bug
As Some B.C. Towns, but the Drug Is Sneaking Its Way into Users Slowly.

Peggy Ness a counsellor who works for the Interior Health Authority's
Creston Valley Alcohol and Drug Counselling Centre, said meth by
itself isn't too noticeable of a problem currently in the Kootenays.
It's when methamphetamines are mixed with other drugs that you start
to see the problem.

"Most of my clients have crack or cocaine is-sues," Ness said. "But
now we're seeing meth being mixed into other drugs."

For youth in the Kootenays, more of a problem are the increased
numbers of young people using ecstasy.

Gaylene Keyes, a youth intervention counsellor with the IHA said that
over 54 per cent of ecstasy tested in B.C. and 84 per cent in Alberta
is laced with methamphetamines or other drugs.

Keyes currently knows of a couple of youths who do the drug
regularly, but knows that there are more out there with problems.

"For every one person who comes forward and says that they are having
a problem with a drug, there are usually about 20 more out there,"
said Keyes. "Meth is appearing as other drugs now, and users are just unaware."

According to the counselors, crystal meth, unlike some other drugs,
is very cheap, both to buy and create. The drug is created in small
clandestine labs, and is made with common household products.

Dealers have been using this knowledge and have started to cut the
drug into coke, crack and ecstasy. It's inexpensive for the dealer,
gives the user close to the same high -- and makes them 10 times more addicted.

Keyes recalled attending a conference in Vancouver, where she learned
that at some raves, participants are encouraged to filter their urine
so the substance that is filtered out can be used to get high again.

In 2005, an East Kootenay adolescent drug use survey was completed
which was handed out to all schools in School District Nos. 5
(Southeast Kootenay) and 6 (Rocky Mountain), and to the Creston area
in School District No. 8 (Kootenay Lake). The survey was prepared by
Dean Nicholson, administrator of the East Kootenay Addiction Services Society.

Of the total 5,981 surveys distributed, 4,786 completed surveys were
returned. Of those, 77, or 1.6 per cent of the surveys, were deemed
spoiled or unreliable. 4,709 surveys were successfully completed,
which represents 78.7 per cent of registered students in the East Kootenays.

Out of the respondents aged 12 to 19, the average age that crystal
meth users first tried the drug was 15, right in the middle of high school.

The survey determined that 3.2 per cent of the students reported
using crystal meth and 1.6 per cent had within the last year.

The survey also reported that 51.4 per cent of users have used the
drug one to three times, 19.4 per cent had used it four to 10 times,
11.1 per cent had used it 11 to 40 times and 18.1 per cent used the
drug more than 40 times. It is important to interpret these numbers
with caution due to the low number of participants and users in each category.

"We have done a lot in preparation to stopping meth in the valley,"
said Keyes, who has worked along with the Creston RCMP to make local
businesses aware of the Meth Watch program.

The program warns businesses in the community of product in their
stores that can be used to create methamphetamine. Anyone who
observes high quantities of such items being bought are told to notify police.

"Community businesses have been really supportive of the program, and
they want to be a part of keeping meth out of the community," Keyes said.

The side effects methamphetamines have on the body can be devastating
to a user. Some of the short-term side effects, according to
www.wikipedia.org, include diarrhea, nausea, agitation, loss of
appetite, insomnia, tremors, jaw-clenching, compulsive fascination
with repetitive tasks (which is also called "punding"),
talkativeness, irritability, panic attacks, in-creased libido and
dilated pupils.

Side effects common with chronic use in-clude high drug cravings,
weight loss, withdrawal-related depression and anhedonia, erectile
dysfunction, tooth decay and amphetamine psychosis.

Finally, side affects associated with an overdose include formication
(sensation of flesh crawling with bugs with possible associated
compulsive picking and infected sores), long-term cognitive
impairment, paranoia, delusions, hallucinations and kidney damage.
Overdose fatalities are usually due to stroke or heart failure, but
can also be caused by hyperthermia or kidney failure.

The counselors agree that the effects the drug has on the body are
all relevant to how much and how long you've been using the drug.

Ness and Keyes added that use of the drug also results in high blood
pressure, bad body odor, neurotransmitter damage, convulsions,
hyperactivity, anger, aggression, memory loss, severe depression,
suicidal tendencies, anxiety, lung damage, liver disease and nasal damage.

The two counsellors said that they take a four-pillar approach to
methamphetamine use: prevention, treatment, enforcement and, finally,
harm reduction.

Ness says it takes a person somewhere between two and three years to
recover from a meth addiction.

"If they can make it the first year clean, they have a good chance of
succeeding," Ness said. "They have to have a lot of support from
their families, and they have to stay away from any drug culture. If
they go back to their day-to-day life, and say that they'll use it
just once again, they're right back into it."

Ness said that drugs don't just affect addicts in the community. It
affects the community through costs to society, legal costs, and
medical costs to name a few.

Though methamphetamine is a problem that is getting a lot of hype
across Canada right now, both women wanted the public to know that
alcohol and marijuana are still the top two problems in the country.
The Kootenays are seeing many more issues with those two types of addictions.

If you have an addiction, or know someone who needs help, you're
encouraged to call the Creston Valley Alcohol and Drug Counselling
Centre at 428-3553. The counsellors are also willing to talk with
people who have been affected by an addiction in their family, such
as parents, or siblings, or other concerned family members. There are
both youth and adult counselling available, and the service is free
and confidential.