CRYSTAL METH TASK FORCE KEEPING STATISTICS

Charting the response of the recent Life or Meth forums, Rani
Bellwood said they've been a success.

"We've been overwhelmed by the response," said the Life or Meth forum
organizing committee chair. "We were hoping for large numbers like this."

Keeping track of attendance at the events is the first step towards
gauging the impact the task force is having.

The next step is charting their success on a much larger scale.

Bellwood said the group will keep statistics to see if its work is
having an affect on crystal meth addiction in Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows.

A baseline from Sept. 21 this year has been set. Bellwood has
information on how many students are in the school district and a
breakdown of gender. Data from RCMP and emergency services will help
the task force keep track of meth-related crimes, the number of
addicts and hospital visits.

"You can just say it improved, but how do you prove it?" Bellwood asked.

The statistics will be shared with other agencies.

The Maple Ridge crystal meth task force has held two forums that aim
to educate kids about the deadly drug so far, drawing 75 and more
than 50 people respectively. A third forum will be held at the Katzie
First Nation tonight.

"What we are hoping to accomplish is get youth feedback on what
worked for them," said Bellwood.

The youth that attended wanted to learn more, she said. It's a myth
that teenagers these days are saturated with information about the
crystal meth.

Bellwood said the kids were curious. They asked, "How much does it
cost? What is it made of? And how is it made?"

"The youth were asking so many questions that we had to stop them,"
Bellwood said.

The task force hopes to have a closed forum that excludes adults eventually.

"We found that the youth were not sharing because there were adults
there," Bellwood said.

Separating crystal meth from other drugs is important. Meth is cheap,
easily produced, readily available and highly addictive.

"It stands out because the damage that is done in a short period of
time is permanent," she said.

The task force hopes to film the closed forum and use it as a
teaching tool for schools.

"We want to use it to educate the community and by reaching the youth
where the focus of the drug is, is to have the greatest impact."

The last Life or Meth forum takes place tonight at the Katzie Hall in
Pitt Meadows at 7 p.m.