NANAIMO TASK FORCE -- FINDINGS, RECOMMENDATIONS

By February 2006, Nanaimo's Crystal Meth Task Force committees had
developed a series of reports on their CM findings and
recommendations. These reports were presented to the public at a
second crystal meth forum.

The committee reports contained no great surprises.

Their major observations and recommendations focussed on two elements.

The first major concern centred on the pressing need in Nanaimo for
treatment facilities for meth addicts who made the decision to try to
leave their addiction behind.

Testimony from recovering addicts stated it was vital to have
treatment facilities available from the exact moment the decision was
made to try to leave the life of drug addiction behind.

Only a single bed was available for this purpose in Nanaimo so the
task of getting treatment facilities in place became job No. 1 for
the task force.

Secondly, it was decided there was lots of room for improvement in
how youth, children and their families are taught about crystal meth
and how the public can be engaged to watch for evidence of its
presence in the community.

This was not a criticism of the drug education programs in use in
schools, but simply a recognition times had changed, and drugs like
CM posed new challenges that needed new approaches.

Thirdly, it was encouraging to discover that, in the late winter of
2005/06, crystal meth was not the street drug of choice in Nanaimo --
so there was a chance to stop it becoming so.

These and other recommendations formed the basis of the action plan
for the task force through the spring of 2006.