AGGRESSIVE ECSTASY, CRYSTAL METH BILL GETS NEW LEGS IN PARLIAMENT

A private member's bill re-introduced in the House of Commons on
Monday would allow law enforcement officers to arrest those who
procure ingredients with the intent of manufacturing ecstasy or
methamphetamine.

The proposed legislation, Bill C-475, An Act to Amend the Controlled
and Substances Act, was originally tabled by Peace River MP Chris
Warkentin in 2007, received unanimous support in the House and
reached the Senate before being effectively killed by the 2008 election.

On Monday, John Weston, a Conservative MP from West
Vancouver-Sunshine Coast-Sea to Sky reintroduced the bill.

"It is something I've been trying to work with John for the last
month and a half; we've been working to get it in place so he'd be
able to present it again," Warkentin said yesterday by phone from
Ottawa. "I'm very pleased it's moving forward."

The idea for the original bill came when a Grande Prairie realtor,
whom the MP declined to identify, approached him and expressed
concern about the growing drug problem in the area, particularly the
increasing prevalence of crystal meth.

"She was a realtor who had been in and out of people's homes and had
seen the effects of drug abuse," Warkentin said.

"And in some cases, she was concerned about the fact we had people
that were strong contributors to our community, people who were
involved in all kinds of community events, but who had become
addicted to drugs and as a result had been forced to sell their homes."

The conversation piqued Warkentin's interest "and when I started to
look into the issue, I found Canada had moved from an importing
nation of crystal meth, to an exporting nation of crystal meth, and
that in fact our legislation was out-of-date in comparison to many
other countries."

What this bill would do, he said, is give law enforcement one more
tool in their fight against drugs and current legislation more teeth
in that fight.

"The thing about crystal meth and ecstasy is that it is a combination
of legal ingredients put together to manufacture something that is
illegal," he said.

"What there isn't right now in Canada is an opportunity for the RCMP
or police forces to intervene on the supply side of the precursors
(ingredients) for this drug. So even in a case where the RCMP know
absolutely that the precursor is being used to produce crystal meth,
they actually cannot intervene unless they can charge the perpetrator
with something different than the intent to produce."

Barring another election, Warkentin said he remains confident this
version of his bill will eventually become law.

"Because my bill did reach the Senate and went into the Senate
committee with unanimous support of the House and unanimous support
of senators, I believe that had there been more time it would have
become law. I suspect that situation will replicate itself; at least
I'm very hopeful that that will be the case."