CRYSTAL METH:

It was in an in-your-face-moment: municipal councillors, mayors and
regional district directors at last week's Okanagan Mainline Municipal
Association convention were visually slammed by the physical ravages
of crystal meth, the notorious drug that is already beginning to make
a subtle appearance in Revelstoke.

Using a Powerpoint projector, he showed the before and after images of
faces of American meth-amphetamine users. The images were horrific.
Faces that had once been normal - even attractive - were reduced to
gaunt death's heads pocked with sores and topped with dead-looking
hair. (To see a Web-based slideshow of these unbelievably nasty images
please go to www.facesofmeth.us.)

"Is there meth in your community?" asked Nelson RCMP Const. Tom Clark.
"If it's not there yet, it's coming. But just because you're not
seeing it visibly in your community doesn't mean it's not there."

He said meth-amphetamines - also known as meth, crystal meth and ice -
has subtly insinuated its way into communities across the Interior. In
its cheapest forms it is a powder ranging in colour from white to
brown-sugar gold. It also can look like icy crystals or bluish-white
rocks. It can be smoked, eaten or injected. It is also used as a
hidden additive in other drugs such as Ecstasy and joints or marijuana
are often dipped in meth for unsuspecting users. Local RCMP Staff Sgt.
Randy Brown has said in the past that meth has shown up here as an
additive to other recreational drugs.

Meth is produced and its trade controlled in different parts of the
province by organized gangs ranging from the Hell's Angels and Asian
street gangs to small groups of just a few individuals, Clark said.

The highly addictive drug induces a powerful sense of euphoria in
users but is highly destructive.

Clark said that in several states in the U.S. meth has replaced
alcohol as the No. 1 contributing factor to domestic violence. And he
showed a video of a meth user who stole a Vancouver bait car and drove
it at higher and higher speeds as he cruised the streets, breaking
into parked cars and trying to avoid police. His manic and bizarre
behaviour was very disturbing.

Mayor Mark McKee said the City needs to look at its options and
consider its response before meth becomes a visible problem in Revelstoke.

The drug can be produced in small-scale laboratories using easily
acquired products ranging from cold tablets to toluene and other
chemicals. Such small labs have not yet appeared in here nor have any
of the super labs that Clark said Mounties have busted in raids
elsewhere in British Columbia.

"Our leaders have to step forward," said Heather Dutchman of
Revelstoke during a discussion after Clark's presentation.

Kelowna Mayor Sharon Shepherd noted that Premier Campbell offered
communities grants of $10,000 for local anti-meth programs and, she
said, "all of us have to advocate for more detox programs."

Other participants said community awareness and vigilance may be one
of the keys to beating meth and Armstrong Councillor Pat Hudson said
people have to change the way they describe it.

"We do wrong when we call it a drug," he said. "It's not a drug. It's
a poison."