DRUG TRENDS ON GABRIOLA INCLUDE ECSTASY AND METH

RCMP presents to PAC

CST. Chris Caldwell, Gabriola RCMP, Youth and Liaison Officer for the
detachment, hosted a presentation with the Gabriola Elementary
Parent's Advisory Council on chemical drugs and their use on Gabriola.

One of his first slides was a file photo of teens drinking in a
park.

Chris said, "This is typical of what I see at the Twin Beaches park
and at the skatepark with the youths on the island.

"What I [also] see is that the alcohol use is leading to the use of
harsher drugs by the youths on the island."

Chris related a story of meeting a youth on Gabriola when he first
arrived last summer.

The youth's mother had found baggies with a white substance in his
jeans while doing laundry.

After Chris was called in by the mother, he spoke to the youth and
found out where he had gotten what turned out to be cocaine from. He
had been 'given' it by a young woman on the island.

Chris tracked the woman down and in speaking with her, found out she
had first used cocaine at age 12 on Gabriola.

His main topic was discussing the presence and impact of four drugs
that the Gabriola RCMP see as a concern on the island.

They are: Ecstasy, GHB, Ketamine and Meth. He also included in his
presentation a piece on marijuana.

One of the statistics Chris brought up in his presentation was that on
average, in Canada, there is a correlation between youths who smoke
and those that later go on to use harsher drugs.

Jessica Plante, youth coordinator at the Gathering Place on Gabriola,
commented that her experience has been that local youths don't start
with tobacco, they start with marijuana, then go on to tobacco,
alcohol and other drugs.

"The age they start smoking marijuana on Gabriola is younger.
Provincially the average is 14, here it's my experience they start at
12."

Chris pointed out that the pot being smoked now is at least 10 times
stronger than the pot smoked in the 60s and 70s.

He said he knows there are proponents out there who claim it is
healthy, but, he said, "If we know tobacco causes cancer, how can we
possibly argue that smoke from anything else, inhaled in the same
manner, isn't going to cause cancer."

According to his presentation, marijuana smoke contains five times the
tar and four times the carbon monoxide of tobacco smoke.

Jessica added, "I think the biggest deal about marijuana on Gabriola
and the impact on the kids is with them starting sooner, they are
using it in the experimental stages of their lives longer."

Chris started his presentation on chemical drugs with a discussion on
Ecstasy.

"It comes in many colours and designs," he said.

"The designs target the youth. They are the next generation of
consumers. They're the ones going to the raves."

One of the misconceptions about ecstasy, he said, is that it is
non-addictive and doesn't cause damage to a body.

A short video he played showed a young woman who, after a few years of
using ecstasy, had a brain scan - her brain was shown missing entire
sections. The doctor stated that it was what the brain of someone who
had suffered multiple strokes would look like.

Chris was asked how a parent might know if pills found in a child's
possession are ecstasy.

"If your child comes home with something that looks like candy, ask to
go to the store and see where they got it. Or bring it down to the
station and we'll send it off to the lab.

"There is ecstasy on Gabriola and there are teens using
it."

GHB ( Gamma hydroxyl butyrate) - is the date rape drug.

"Last year on Gabriola we had a GHB overdose at a house party," said
Chris.

"A young female came over from Nanaimo, had taken GHB and went
unconscious, almost stopped breathing. She was taken by ambulance to
Nanaimo, she woke up in Nanaimo and was quite distraught because she
couldn't remember anything."

One of the reasons GHB is used as a date rape drug is it is odorless,
colourless and tasteless.

GHB also induces amnesia, so victims are unable to remember what
happened to them.

GHB is detectable in urine for 8 to 12 hours after it has been taken,
and in blood for 4 to 8 hours after. Chris said if anyone suspects GHB
has been given to them, to get tested right away.

"If you're not sure what has happened to you, get to the hospital and
get tested.

"Same with ketamine."

A few months ago, the Gabriola RCMP reported through the media that
there was a growing concern with the use of ketamine on the island.

Ketamine is known primarily as a tranquilizer used by
veterinarians.

"It's just like being drunk," said Chris.

"I spoke with Sandy Simrose from the ambulance service and she
commented that she has seen what ketamine does to a 1,200 pound horse,
try and imagine what it does to a person."

Chris said there is a belief amongst the teens on the island that
ketamine is safe to use. An overdose occurred roughly two months ago
on the island .

"An adult male was using ketamine with alcohol and other
pharmaceuticals, he lapsed into a bit of a coma and was woken up by
the ambulance service."

Ketamine came to Chris' attention when he first arrived on Gabriola
and arrested a 15-year-old on Gabriola, and, "I was told by the teen
that all the cocaine dealers on the island were selling it."

He described how people on ketamine appear to be drunk, but unlike an
arrested drunk who would typically pass out in the cells at the RCMP
station, those on ketamine stay awake all night and walk out in the
morning.

With ketamine, there is no hangover and no calories, making it very
popular with teens who wish to hide their drug use from parents and
teachers.

Chris' presentation moved to a discussion on methamphetamine, aka
crystal meth.

Meth, so powerful that users are addicted on the first time it is
used, is a drug that has devastating effects.

Meth is produced in clandestine labs, either in small batches for
personal use, or in large batches for widespread dealing.

It is often first taken in pill form, but as Chris and some of the
videos demonstrated, users frequently end up using needles to inject
it.

Meth has been around for a long time, it used to be called speed and
was used by long-haul truckers to stay awake longer. It was also
distributed to American infantrymen in the second world war. Meth was
first created in 1919 in Japan.

It has the lowest recovery rate for addicts of any drug out there -
only 6% of meth users are able to leave the drug behind
permanently.

One other reason meth is so destructive is that users can typically
get, and stay, high for less than $5 a day, going on binges called
'tweaking' that last for days.

Type in 'meth' in an online image search and one can find numerous
examples showing the effect meth can have on people over a period of
years.

'Meth mouth' is another effect seen - so-called because of the loss of
the front teeth due to smoking meth.

Chris confirmed there have been meth labs found on Gabriola in the
past, and there is meth currently being used on Gabriola.

"Meth labs are very dangerous. If we find one, we call in the white
hazardous suits from Vancouver to come over to deal with it."

"I've heard there was one that blew up in Parksville a couple of years
ago. It took out a section of the hotel building. People renting a
room for a week were cooking meth, they went out for something and
left the burner on. Pretty typical."

Asked if there is a cocaine issue on the island, Chris said that there
was - he wanted to focus on the other drugs for the purpose of the
night's presentation, but there is a cocaine problem on Gabriola and
the RCMP are working on ways to deal with it.

"From what I've seen in my first year here on Gabriola, there are a
lot of wonderful people here who can do a lot of good things. Just
from what I've seen, there could be a groundswell of support for the
youth programs and help our youth develop productive lives."