CRYSTAL METH BATTLE PLAN DRAWN

A battle plan to curb a growing number of young crystal meth addicts
is "expensive", but the alternatives are grim and will cost even
more, says Alberta's health minister.

Iris Evans concedes it will cost "tens of millions" of dollars to
implement the 83 recommendations put forward Tuesday by the Premier's
Task Force on Crystal Meth.

"But the outcomes of an addiction untreated can be people in their
30's and 40's that are curled into fetal positions in long-term care
facilities," Evans told reporters.

"That's going to be a lot more expensive than the tens of millions it
might take to activate this report."

The study group, led by Colleen Klein, Premier Ralph Klein's wife, is
calling for 300 new detox and treatment beds across Alberta.

The minister confirms each new bed costs roughly $100,000, which
would put the price tag on the beds alone at $30 million. But she
says the beds would likely be phased in over several years.

Palliser Health Region is currently the only health jurisdiction in
the province without detox and treatment beds. Health Region Board
Chair Carol Secondiak said from Edmonton Tuesday that part of the 83
recommendations in the report is a request for 10 such beds in Palliser.

Several ministries will be involved if the report is put into action,
including Health, Education and Advanced Education, task force
spokesman Jim Law said.

The Health minister says government departments will prepare cost
estimates and present the information as part of the province's
budget deliberations.

But Evans also conceded the final decision will rest with whoever
replaces the premier later this year.

At least 25 young Albertans have been forced into detox since a new
law took effect in July that allows addicts to be confined for up to
five days in treatment centres. In Palliser, that means patients are
either housed in a regular hospital bed, the psychiatric ward, or
transported out of the region, Secondiak said.

Once they get out, those same kids are entering voluntary treatment
programs, which need more beds, says a drug treatment official.

"The devastating effects of crystal meth and other substances have
led us to understand we need to have kids in longer treatment," says
Michael Finnerty, CEO of the Alberta Alcohol and Drug Abuse Commission.

"So we've opened 68 beds in the last two years."

Finnerty estimates about 400 kids, or 10 per cent of those who seek
treatment from ADDAC programs, are hooked on crystal meth. In
addition, experts suggest that about 40 per cent of powdered drugs on
the street today like cocaine and ecstasy are cut with crystal meth,
creating the potential of a much larger addiction problem down the road.

The task force report also recommends that community courts be set up
to send addicts convicted of crimes into treatment rather than
provincial jails.

Some of these changes require co-operation from the federal government.

Colleen Klein says Prime Minister Stephen Harper promised during his
election campaign to change the laws to handle those who make crystal
meth the same way heroin traffickers are dealt with.

"I recall hearing those words come out of his lips and I'm hoping to
remind him," she said. "Because none of this is going to work if
everybody doesn't get involved and the feds have a responsibility."