METH PLAN LAUNCHED

Colleen Klein Calls On The Government To Implement 83 Recommendations

The province's crystal meth task force released 83 recommendations to
the government Tuesday.

The report calls on the government to add at least 100 detoxification
beds and 200 treatment beds across Alberta and to create a central
fund that would be accessible by communities, police, service
providers and distributed by an implementation team established by
the province. The report didn't include a price tag for the fund or
any of the recommendations.

Health Minister Iris Evans said she plans to start implementing some
of the ideas right away. With additional beds costing around $100,000
each, the cost to her department alone would run in the tens of
millions, she said, but the province needs to act.

The crystal meth task force was headed up by Colleen Klein, Premier
Ralph Klein's wife. Its report comes after an 11-month consultation
and review process. The recommendations centre around three main
themes -- prevention, treatment and getting tough on those who make
and sell the addictive drug.

The report includes several recommended changes to Canada's criminal
code. Klein will send a copy to Prime Minister Stephen Harper and
expects co-operation from the federal government.

"I think that they would have to be supportive, for God sakes, it's
going to save the lives of youth," she said.

St. Albert resident Chris Uttley, co-chair of Parents Empowering
Parents, applauded the report's recommendations. She especially liked
its emphasis on a team approach, the sharing of information among
health officials and more education in schools. She also liked the
idea of creating local drug treatment courts and amending the
criminal code to keep those charged with the manufacture, possession
and trafficking of crystal meth in jail before trial and after conviction.

On the downside, however, she thought more attention could have been
paid to providing support for families of crystal meth users.

"They're always looking at the service provider to do all of this.
They really have missed what the family can also add to it. My
feeling is they've come at it from the point of view of a child
that's been abandoned or neglected or a family that's at risk."

But not all meth users come from at-risk homes, she said.

A former addict who runs St. Albert's Crystal Meth Anonymous meetings
said the call for more education in schools would be particularly
beneficial for St. Albert youth, many of whom come from affluent homes.

"They often have the misconception that they'll never end up on the
street," she said. "There's only three places that these people end
up and that's jails, institutions or death. There is no high class
drug addict."

A lot of drug traffickers get conditional sentences and end up
serving their time in the community, said Mike Moulds of the St.
Albert RCMP drug unit. His desired approach, minimum sentences, was
missing from the recommendations.

"I agree tightening up on everything, but you can make all the
recommendations in the world but if the court system isn't going to
follow up on those in terms of sentencing, you're back to square one again."