OLIVER RECEIVES GRANT TO DEVELOP ANTI-CRYSTAL METH PROGRAM

$10,000 Allows Town To Hire Coordinator

"Anyone who's tried crystal meth for two to three days knows that
it's a little bit like being schizophrenic," said a recovering
crystal meth user, 26, who's requested to remain anonymous.

"The mind plays tricks on you," said the Oliver man. "You hear things
that aren't there, you see things that aren't there I believe it's
going to end up causing people to become schizophrenics."

He adds that it's pretty scary the things that develop in the mind
and the damage it causes during the time people are using. He said he
was "using hard" for a year, about five days a week, and he's now
been "clean" for about ten weeks.

Crystal meth is closer than people think. It's in the South Okanagan
with statistics showing users as young as nine years old, and
something needs to be done about it, said Tamara Aspell, of Desert
Sun Counseling, who is the project coordinator for a new project
called the South Okanagan Crystal Meth Task Force (SOCMTF), designed
to educate the public.

"I think it's a myth that our communities are too small and that
crystal meth hasn't touched us yet," said Aspell. "It's not Kelowna
or East Hastings, but it's here, and as a community, we need to come
together and get educated and be aware and our children need to too."

Aspell said that kids had better be educated before they're nine
years old, in case they do find themselves faced with the decision.
"My six-year old twins know what it (crystal meth) is and that it
will kill you. It's just a path to destruction," she said. "Our youth
have to be targeted, they have to know, and there has to be options
for them, such as programs through the recreation centre. The kids
need to get that high somewhere else.

"These kids will be adults one day, and they'll be all mucked up the
effects of crystal meth are long-term," Aspell said.

The Union of BC Municipalities (UBCM) is administering the new
program, which entails Aspell gathering together a task force from
the community. The program has recently received funding for five
months, July through November, provided by the Ministry of Public
Safety and the Solicitor General, said Aspell. "Desert Sun has
received $20,000, $10,000 for Oliver and $10,000 for Osoyoos."

Randy Toor, an auxiliary constable and Town Councillor, teamed up
with Marji Basso, also a Town Councillor and a teacher at Oliver
Elementary School, and the Desert Sun Counselling Centre to get the
grant application going.

"The Osoyoos Indian Band started a task force against drugs and have
been going at it for about six to seven months now," Toor said. "It's
not just a problem on the reserve I mean, how far away are we? So we
wanted to start one here. It's a huge problem and an ugly one too."
He said they (the task force) will be targeting the high school.
"I'll do the best I can to keep it out of there," said Toor, who has
teenagers himself.

Basso said that the project is still in its infancy stage. "We've
hired Tamara to carry it out, and she's working on gathering a task
force," she said. The group will be focused on community education,
prevention, and awareness.

The task force will include all levels of the community, such as
families touched by the effects of crystal meth, RCMP and paramedics,
who are the first response to meth labs and busts, Interior Health,
Mental Health, the School Board and District, and local business
owners, such as from drugstores and hardware stores, said Aspell.

She mentions that the ingredients for crystal meth are readily
available from our drugstores and hardware stores.

"Items like barbeque propane tanks, rubbing alcohol, rock salt,
coffee filters, rubber tubing, large funnels, and pseudoephedrine,
which is found in over the counter cough and cold medicines and the
like. They (users) can get it in bulk," she said. "Without it,
there's no crystal meth." She added that the drug is super cheap to make.

Aspell said that when the drug is being made, for every kilogram
that's produced, there are five to seven kilos of toxic waste that
needs to be disposed of.

"They're digging holes in their back yard or dumping it in Provincial
Park garbage containers or flushing it down the toilet," she said.

Users of crystal meth ingest the drug by snorting, smoking, taking it
in pill form (not as effective), or by taking it intravenously.

Our anonymous recovering user began using due to serious personal
problems and to help him get through work and school. He said the
drug's high causes elevated mood and awareness, an adrenaline-rush,
keeps the user awake for long periods of time (depending on the
amount) and diminishes their appetite.

"It's a drug you can conceal and hide from people."

It was an overdose that woke him up and convinced him to get clean.
He said that if you know friends or family who are using, get them
immediate help--"addicts will always deny they have a problem"--do
whatever you can to open their eyes or they're going to end up in a
box, six-feet under.

"That's where it's all going to lead to," he said. "They've got to
get help or that person will end up dying of a heart attack, starving
to death, committing suicide, experiencing psychotic episodes, or
hurting loved ones emotional and maybe physically," he said.

If you have questions, concerns, or comments, email Desert Sun
Counselling at dsun@vip.net, attn: Tamara Aspell.

Basso added that the project is only short term and it's a one-time grant.

"And then it's the task force's responsibility to carry it out on
their own. That's why we need to establish a committed group of
interested parties and key people from each organization," she said.
"But hopefully next year, they'll be another grant available."