NEW METH STRATEGY

Following the provincial government's acceptance of 83
recommendations developed by the Premier's Task Force on Crystal
Meth, Whitecourt Mayor Trevor Thain said if the province does have
the moral fortitude to see the recommendations through, they could be
effective for battling meth use in Whitecourt.

Following the provincial government's acceptance of 83
recommendations developed by the Premier's Task Force on Crystal
Meth, Whitecourt Mayor Trevor Thain said if the province does have
the moral fortitude to see the recommendations through, they could be
effective for battling meth use in Whitecourt.

"It would give the people that are addicted to meth and other
substances a place to turn to for help," he said. "I have to believe
that if you're addicted to a substance at some point or another
you're going to realize that you want to get off of it, because if
you don't we all know what's going to happen to you. You're going to
die. The other side of the coin is we need to get rid of these creeps
that sell this crap."

Some of the recommendations make note of developing prevention
programs in both cities and rural communities. Three-hundred beds
could also be added to hospitals in both the city and the country to
treat addicts if the report follows through.

Thain said although the strategy could be effective, he thinks more
needs to be done for drug problems in rural communities like Whitecourt.

"I think that we need to sort of band together and try to find ways
that we can attack this problem in our communities from more of a
regional basis than what's happening," he said. "In the major cities,
there's lots of programs and facilities to look after these people
who are addicted, but we don't seem to have that in the country."

Ultimately, he said it's great for the province to come up with
recommendations to battle meth use, but they are only recommendations
and won't be any good unless they're put into effect.

The Whitecourt branch of the Alberta Alcohol and Drug Abuse
Commission (AADAC) also commented on the strategy.

"We're always looking at supportive and collaborative approaches,"
Sharon Harry of AADAC Whitecourt said. "In regards to the task force,
it does support some of the work AADAC does."

Harry added one of the strengths of the strategy is that it balances
both prevention and treatment, which are two of the main themes
contained in the report. A third theme focuses on getting tough on
drug dealers and creators of meth, according to an Alberta government
news release.

Another area the recommendations touch on is taking a province-wide
approach to dealing with meth use. One of these recommendations
states the government should create a fund available to communities,
police, and service providers that would help aid the development of
programs, which could possibly decrease crystal meth use.

Premier Ralph Klein developed the Premier's Task Force in October
2005. The task force visited 12 communities and spoke with hundreds
of Albertans in order to prepare the 83 recommendations. The
provincial government indicates the task force considered
environmental concerns, legislation and enforcement as a part of its strategy.