CANADA TOP SOURCE FOR 'PARTY' DRUGS

Canada has become a major producer of illegal "party" drugs, a United
Nations report released yesterday says.

Asian gangs and outlaw bikers stepped up their production of
methamphetamine -- a very addictive stimulant drug that affects the
central nervous system -- from 2003 to 2006, says the 306-page survey.

Asian organized crime groups primarily on the West Coast also focused
on ecstasy, a psychoactive drug that is chemically similar to the
stimulant methamphetamine and the hallucinogen mescaline.

They had turned "ecstasy" laboratories into "large scale facilities"
by 2007, World Drug Report 2009 says.

"Since 2003-2004, Canada has emerged as the primary source of
ecstasy-group substances for North American markets," according to the
report, produced by the Vienna-based UN Office on Drugs and Crime.

The gangs also "increasingly" exported it to other parts of the world,
the report says.

"In 2007, it was estimated that 50 per cent of domestically produced
ecstasy was trafficked outside of Canada," the report says. "Most of
this was thought to be destined for the United States, Australia and
Japan."

In that year, Japan identified Canada as the single biggest source for
ecstasy, the researchers say.

Australia said methamphetamine from Canada accounted for 83 per cent
of total seized imports.