GETTING OUT OF THIS METH

Waterloo, Ont. -- I'm the University of Waterloo student who was
convicted of drug charges relating to an ecstasy lab (Secret Drug
Laboratories Sprout Up Across Canada -- May 29). I was arrested after
the police were alerted to my activities by a legitimate business
suspicious of my equipment purchases.

I have experience purchasing suspicious chemicals and precursors for
the purposes of clandestine drug production, and I can tell you it is
quite difficult to obtain these items in Canada. It is far cheaper,
easier and safer to obtain them out of country. In Canada, there are
only a few places selling small amounts of miscellaneous chemicals and
they are very picky about who they do business with. Most have had
some contact with police and have procedures in place to ensure their
products do not end up in a drug lab.

Rather than fear-mongering, an effort should have been made to obtain
an opinion from the industries that would be most affected by
legislation. Do not forget these chemicals have wide legitimate use;
restrictions would hurt small business and increase consumer costs. If
anything, the U.S. example should discourage making these chemicals
illegal. In California, the tight restrictions have created a black
market for precursors and are directly responsible for the huge
increase in the number of labs in that area.

Matt Crane