NORTH SHORE TAKES METH FIGHT TO NEXT LEVEL

After three years working with community groups to combat crystal
meth use on the North Shore, Peter Defehr, chair of the local task
force, wants to take the battle to the next level: provincial.

On Oct. 13, the North Shore Crystal Meth Task Force published its
draft funding proposal for the Crystal Meth Task Force Strategy
Society. Its goal is to share information with any groups mobilizing
to fight the drug that Defehr believes is reaching epidemic proportions.

"Why have hundreds of organizations around the province all do the
same research?" Defehr asks, adding the North Shore task force has a
range of educational material, from brochures to DVDs, ready to be distributed.

While the provincial government has set aside $2 million of its meth
funding for individual communities across the province to develop
crystal meth programs, Defehr said the North Shore task force needs
more than the $20,000 allotted to them to effectively run the society.

Besides sharing information, the proposal, written by North Vancouver
resident and task force volunteer Sally Hamel, also suggests forming
a coalition to lobby government for help, offering training for
drug-proofing children, counselling and developing a prototype mobile
crystal meth booth with built-in DVD player. The plan also calls for
a Fighting Crystal Meth Conference for April 2007.

The society estimates it would require three staff members and a
small office with a total annual cost of $186,000 a year.

"We've been working specifically on this proposal for the last six
months," Hamel said.

"We're proposing to offer services across the province so people
won't duplicate the same services we've already developed."

Defehr said construction of the mobile information booth is already
under way and is based on a display created by North Vancouver high
school students moved to educate their peers about a drug that's
highly addictive, cheap and devastating - often leaving long-term
users with brain damage.

Defehr, who is also the community ministries director for the North
Shore Salvation Army, said he hopes to booth will be completed soon
so they can have it out with Salvation Army volunteers during the
Christmas kettle drive.

"By having that board, it can say more than I can in hours," Defehr said.