COMBATTING CRYSTAL METH - A CITY COMES TOGETHER

At an emotional forum on crystal meth, held in September 2005, more
than 300 Nanaimo residents - including students, parents,
grandparents, civic officials, service club members, RCMP and legal
experts - decided they would work together to stop the drug from
taking hold in Nanaimo.

More than one-third of the audience volunteered to join Nanaimo's
Crystal Meth Task Force.

Why the anxiety over crystal meth?

Meth is highly addictive, cheap, available drug, made up of a deadly
concoction of chemicals and poisons that can cause significant damage
to the user, up to and including death.

Nanaimo was saying no to meth and looking for ways to fight the curse.

Forum participants offered their time, energy and experience to serve
on a variety of committees that examined every aspect of the crystal
meth scene - manufacture, enforcement, education, treatment and others.

Through the fall and winter of 2005/06, these task force committees
worked on their plans to get crystal meth out of our classrooms and
off our streets.

In addition to the volunteers, city bylaw enforcement staff,
education experts, legal and judicial experts, members from Nanaimo's
RCMP detachment offered their perspectives.

Important contributions were made by local addiction treatment
experts and people from the Vancouver Island Health Authority. Not to
be overlooked was the participation of a number of recovering addicts
and parents who had experienced crystal meth use by family members.

For more on the efforts by Nanaimo's Crystal Meth Task Force, please
see the Nov. 9 News Bulletin.