GET TOUGH ON METH LAB OPERATORS, CITIES SAY

Tougher sentencing of crystal meth lab operators and more intrusive
measures to catch them when they buy precursor chemicals are urgently
needed, delegates to the Union of B.C. Municipalities convention
heard last Wednesday.

Terrace Coun. Rich McDaniel said a meth lab was busted within 300
metres of both Terrace city hall and the RCMP detachment but its
operators were sentenced this month to probation only.

"They didn't even get a damn fine," he told a crystal meth strategies
forum. "There's no deterrent."

McDaniel also pressed for even earlier efforts to bring anti-drug
messaging to elementary school children.

"Grade 4 is the time to reach them," he said, adding waiting until
Grade 6 is too late.

Sparwood Mayor David Wilks said B.C. should follow the lead of
Montana, which requires all hardware stores to require identification
and collect names of customers who buy meth components.

A registration system for consumers would go far beyond the existing
Meth Watch program used in some B.C. cities in which retailers
voluntarily watch for large-scale buying of precursors and alert
police when they see it.

The meth session came on the heels of an announcement by the province
that another $3 million will be spent on school-focused programs to
battle meth. A year earlier Victoria unveiled a $7 million plan to
combat meth addiction.

But Mark McLaughlin, one of the organizers of Victoria's crystal meth
task force, said the province hasn't yet rolled out its promised
programs in the schools.

"September has come and gone and we have yet to see it," he said.
"Every day that goes by without kids getting this important
information is another day that a child runs the risk of being
exposed to crystal meth."

McLaughlin said the province has made a start but must do more.

View Royal Coun. Andrew Britton, a paramedic, put much of the meth
abuse epidemic at the feet of the province, saying it can be traced
to Victoria's track record on handling the mentally ill, and in
cutting back health care, homeless shelters and low-cost housing.

Some delegates urged cabinet ministers to consider measures to pull
young addicts off the street for a mandatory five days of detox.

But Attorney-General Wally Oppal said that would likely violate
constitutional protections.

Public safety minister John Les said crystal meth addicts must want
to get off the drug and evidence shows forced treatment doesn't work.

He also rejected suggestions that cities need more power to crack
down on drug houses. He said plenty of tools exist that towns may not
adequately use, such as vigorous enforcement of unsightly premises
bylaws if there are upkeep problems.