AWARENESS KEY TO CURTAILING METH

The Crystal Meth Crisis is reaching epidemic proportions across
Western Canada; its use is widespread across all age groups and is
causing very serious health and social issues in many communities.

While the epidemic has not yet hit the North Island, experts agree
that a proactive stance is the preventative.

"Crystal meth still isn't a huge problem on the North Island and is a
relatively new issue, but it has the potential to create irreversible
damage of whomever it touches," says Brian Thurber, newly-appointed
director for Restorative Justice in Port Hardy.

Port Hardy Area Restorative Justice Society received $10,000 from the
provincial government to help build community awareness of crystal
meth, and Thurber says the money was spent effectively.

Three local hardware stores sell many of the ingredients that could
be used to illegally produce crystal meth, and all three were
contacted in person to deliver Meth Watch materials telling staff
what to watch for and decals warning the public about the problem,
said Thurber.

There is one local pharmacy with a staff well-trained in what to
watch for with decals obviously displayed, Thurber added.

A 'Meth Madness' youth dance was planned with a comprehensive meth
awareness presentation sandwiched between sets by two live rock bands.

The program also reached out to building owners. Illicit meth labs in
private residences, apartments and so one can contaminate an entire
building and even the lot, says Thurber, who has tipped property
managers and apartment owners on what to look for.

A meth awareness booth at the two-day Fall Fair reached out to
thousands of people who attended, says Thurber, as did an article in
Gazette, free ads on Keta Cable and a call-in program on CFNI Radio.

"We feel, overall, that the community awareness of the dangers of
crystal meth has been substantially improved through our initiatives,
which continue full speed through the fall of 2006," he says.

Crystal Meth is one of the most addictive drugs on the streets right
now, it not only destroys the lives of users, but it can pose huge
dangers to families and entire communities where it is manufactured and used.

Experts say meth hooks as many as 95 per cent of first-time users.
Crystal Meth labs are being discovered in many First Nations
communities, organized crime gangs help set them up and teach youth
and young adults how to produce the drugs.

Crystal Meth is easy to produce in small, clandestine labs, sometimes
in a kitchen or bathroom, by mixing a cocktail of about 15
substances, mostly Pseudoephedrine (a cold remedy), red phosphorous
and Iodine, but also including ammonia, paint thinner, ether,
benzene, acetone, chloroform, Coleman camp-stove fuel, black Iodine,
Epsom salts, diet aids, Drano and the lithium from batteries.

Police say an investment of about $150 can yield up to $10,000 worth
of the drug. But the resulting drug is often impure and the
manufacturing process can be dangerous and cause fires.

Crystal Meth has an extremely high potential for abuse and addiction.
With street-level and higher doses of methamphetamine, especially if
it is smoked or injected, the user immediately experiences an intense
"rush" (also called a "flash") that causes intense pleasure but only
last a few minutes.

Users can become addicted and dependent quickly, needing more and
higher does as the addiction progresses.

The addiction level and the dangers of this particular drug are so
alarming they need to be addressed as soon as possible before more
people become trapped in its destructive grip. In some communities
there are children as young as 12 years of age and some even younger
that are already experimenting with this drug.

Crystal Meth is not a recreational drug, it was designed with one
purpose in mind and that purpose is to get it's users hopelessly
addicted in an extremely short time span.

It is in my opinion and the opinion of many of my colleagues the most
insidious and destructive drug ever made and, it is a problem so huge
it should be considered by leadership and health care professionals
everywhere as the biggest crisis to hit their community since the
devastation caused by the smallpox epidemic.