CRYSTAL METH EPIDEMIC SKIRTS SOUTH OKANAGAN

Imagine feeling like you are on top of the world. Nothing can touch
you. You're invincible.

This is the feeling that makes crystal methamphetamine so addictive.

"(Users) experience an extreme sense of well-being," said Jody
Meyer, a youth counsellor with Pathways Addiction Resource Centre.
"They feel like Superman. They have instant energy."

While promises of euphoric feelings may have hooked some in the
South Okanagan Valley, those working in the prevention, enforcement
and treatment of crystal meth have only seen its use decrease across
the region.

"About a year or two ago we thought there was going to be a huge
wave of crystal meth," said Cpl. Brad Myhre, with the Penticton
RCMP's drug task force. "It's definitely here, and it's a problem,
but it's not as bad as we thought it was going to be."

Most of the problems in the valley with drug use are connected to
cocaine and crack. It's the product most of the dealers are selling
and most of the addicts are buying.

"Most addicts decided to stay with the devil they knew," said Myhre,
of the high use of cocaine, which he said accounts for about 90 per
cent of illegal drug use (not including marijuana). Crystal meth and
all illicit drugs account for the other 10 per cent.

Myhre recognizes that the decreased use of meth in the valley is a
rarity. The rest of the province, the country and North America has
only reported increased use of the drug. Rural and urban centre in
Alberta are seeing its use skyrocket, he said, adding that the same
can be said for Vancouver.

There are numerous factors that may be contributing to the decrease
of meth use in the valley.

Myhre said the low cost of meth make its sale less profitable for
dealers and organized crime. While an ounce of meth is roughly the
same price as an ounce of cocaine, at about $1,400-$1,800, it takes
less meth to get high and the high lasts substantially longer.

A meth user might only take half a gram to a gram a day to stay high
- - about $35-$80.

The same amount of cocaine would only supply a high that lasted
about an hour, so more is needed to sustain a high.

Other factors in its reduction also includes the success in
prevention programs, that were largely government funded.

Last year the provincial government committed $7 million to fund new
initiatives to fight crystal meth, including school programs, public
education campaigns, funding for aboriginal communities to assist
with local response and funding for treatment programs.

All communities in the South Okanagan have spearheaded their own
campaigns to educate the public about meth. Forums have been held in
Penticton, Osoyoos, Oliver, Summerland and Keremeos. This year
frontline workers, including local aboriginal leaders, municipal
leaders, RCMP, schools and other agencies also received training in
Prevention, Awareness and Community Education, a program founded at
the Saskatchewan Indian Institute of Technologies, that focuses on
the issues of meth.

All of these efforts provide consistent messaging, said Terri
Kalaski, the community policing co-ordinator.

"We need all communities to deliver consistent information," she
said. "It is about educating. It is about the education, then
prevention and treatment."

Meyer said this education has created a stigma that crystal meth is
bad and dirty.

It's a stigma based on factual information.

First is the way crystal meth is manufactured.

The ingredients for this synthetic drug, which is also know in the
Okanagan as crystal, speed, gack, ice, glass and jib, can be found
"under your kitchen counter." They include ephedrine or
pseudoephdrine, acetone, red phosphors, hydrogen iodide and
sometimes, ammonia, sodium and lithium.

It's then cooked into a crystal form, which can be chopped into a
powder and snorted, dissolved into water and injected, made into
pill form or, most commonly, smoked.

It's usually smoked from a glass pipe specifically designed for drug
use. But it can also be smoked using a bong or household products
like a light bulb, pop can or even off of a Brillo pad, said Meyer.

After the first time using the drug, the user's tolerance is
automatically increased and their chances of addiction are high.

"There is no experimentation with this drug," he said. "It's crazy.
It's meant to be abused."

According to Myhre the user also develops a high psychological
tolerance and a high physical tolerance, unlike cocaine users.

Similarly, the side effects are both physical and psychological.

Meth users may stay up for weeks at a time without sleep. In
comparison, cocaine users usually stay up for a couple of days and
then sleep for a couple of days.

Meth users will often experience heart palpitations or arrhythmia,
high blood pressure, dehydration and increased body temperature
leading to hyperthermia. Other physical effects include the feeling
that there are bugs crawling under the skin. The user will scratch
and pick away at those invisible bugs until their skin has large
open sores, that are infected and full of blood and puss.

Then there is meth mouth. Because meth dehydrates its users, saliva
production is reduced, allowing bacteria to invade the mouth. The
result is cavities, rotting and eventual loss of teeth.

And meth is an appetite suppressant, users quickly shed pounds and
can become anorexic.

The clinical effects of meth include stroke, delusional thinking,
sleep deprivation, paranoia psychosis and mental illness, such as
schizophrenia, anxiety and depression. A meth user, for example, may
hear voices or think people are out to get them. Many of these
symptoms persist for years or are permanent even even after the user
has stopped taking meth. This includes damage to their brain, which
in brain imaging studies is shown to be similar to the damage caused
by strokes and Alzheimer's.

And, Meyer said, the relapse rate is high.

So, who is using meth?

"This one doesn't have a border," he said. "This drug is everywhere.
I just think anyone with a brain can become addicted."

Single moms, for example, may begin using meth to stay awake and
ensure they can get all of their chores done while their child is sleeping,

But meth is commonly used by teens because it is cheap and because
of society's obsession with instant gratification and adrenaline
rushes, said Meyer.

As a counsellor and therapist, Meyer said he is always analyzing the
family unit.

"Parents have a really big job. They have the hardest job in the
world," he said. "Lots of parents are doing lots of things right.
Parents you just need to talk to your kids."

It's not necessarily about good or bad parenting, just "parenting, period."

Meyer said getting kids involved in activities, like sports, scouts
or cadets will help ensure their excitement and joy in life is
coming from a positive source, rather than the last hit they took
from a meth pipe.