METH NOT YET FEARED BY LOCAL EXPERTS

Crystal meth is a drug that has received significant media coverage
since its introduction into North America in the late 1990s.

Counties across the United States have been reportedly hard hit by
the drug, which is highly addictive, cheap and destructive. Drive
across the border and you are inundated by billboards on the
interstates with the caption 'Crystal meth destroys families.'

While the drug has made its way across the border and use is
prevalent among street users in urban centres, there is reportedly
low activity of the illicit substance, use or manufacturing, in the
Columbia Valley.

In a 2005 survey of valley high school students, grades seven through
12, only 1.64% of those surveyed said they'd used methamphetamines or
speed. Of the nine individuals who said yes to using
methamphetamines, only one student said they had used it more than
four to 10 times.

"It's definitely worthy of attention," said David Thompson Secondary
School (DTSS)-based prevention worker Carmen Thompson of the use of
crystal meth amongst valley youth, but noted that alcohol and tobacco
have always been the substances most used and abused by individuals
of any demographic.

Over the years the provincial and national governments have launched
campaigns aimed at bringing awareness to the current drug that is
prevalent, from PCP to crack cocaine and now crystal meth. In July of
2006, the B.C. government gave almost $2 million in grants to 160
organizations throughout the province to foster a response to meth at
a local level. The Columbia Basin Family Resource Society was given
$10,000 toward promoting its Crystal Clear Project.

The Crystal Clear Project comprises three areas of directing
awareness surrounding the drug in communities. An interactive Web
site with information and access to resources and professional help,
a print ad campaign that would be in areas of higher youth
concentrations and presentations will be made, aimed at addressing
meth use on many levels, from prevention to detection of abuse.

In January of 2007, DTSS will be hosting a group from the Headline
Theatre in Vancouver, performing METH, a production aimed at
addressing many of the factors surrounding meth use.

Meth belongs to the stimulant group of drugs, and was first
synthesized in 1887. Originally prescribed to treat narcolepsy,
obesity and depression, the drug began to be manufactured in home
labs and distributed in the 1960s. When a hydrochloric acid (HCl)
molecule is added to a methamphetamine compound during the cooking
process, it cools and forms into crystals, hence the names "ice" or
"crystal" meth.