METH TASK FORCE GATHERS INFO

DRAYTON VALLEY -- Crystal meth drew a crowd to the town offices last
week as the community cluster group from the Premier's Task Force on
Crystal Meth made a stop in Drayton Valley to gather the thoughts of
the community on how to tackle the issue.

Around 45 community members representing sectors such as education,
health, police, support services and industry gathered to hear how
Drayton Valley combats its own meth problem as well as offer their
own ideas and recommendations to be forwarded to the task force.

Drayton Valley Mayor Diana McQueen was named to the task force last
year and, along with Don Falk, superintendent of Red Deer public
schools, makes up the community cluster group which made its stop in
Drayton Valley before heading to Camrose, Red Deer and Grande
Prairie. She was glad to see so much interest from the community to
help the task force in its goal of combating crystal meth in the
province.

"As a task force member it's great," she said. "But it's not
surprising for Drayton Valley because it's (the community) really
great at getting involved."

After a presentation detailing the steps Drayton Valley took to
battle its crystal meth problem as a community those gathered also
heard from the local detachment of the RCMP and Parent-to-Parent
group member Lori Winship about how their organizations deal with the
meth problem, their successes and what still needs to be done.

Former User Battled Addiction For Eight Years

One of the key presentations of the afternoon was when former Drayton
Valley resident and recovering crystal meth addict Anna Meier spoke
about her own experience and shared her thoughts on how a system to
help meth addicts should look. Clean for nearly two years, she
battled her addiction for eight years and said she found the biggest
danger zone for those who are trying to get clean was in the gap
between their original stay in detox and the time it took to get into
a treatment program.

"For me personally it's important to take a bad situation and turn it
into something good," said Meier of why she decided to share her
story with the group.

She thinks the formation of the task force is something that will
definitely have an impact on battling crystal meth and thought that
by taking part in the meeting she was completing the circle of
contributors, as someone who had actually been through the process.
"It let me hear the community and give my perspective," she said.

Several recommendations came out of the meeting including one to
establish more programs to help the people who are trying to help
family member or friends who are involved in crystal meth. More money
for prosecutors who are dealing with drug-related cases, an
alternative to jail for those addicts who want to get clean and an
additional treatment facility in the province were just some of the
recommendations heard from those in attendance.

McQueen said the goal of the task force is to come up with
recommendations that outline some best practices in how to address
the crystal meth problem and help those who are addicted.

All the recommendations from the community cluster meeting will be
forwarded to task force chair Colleen Klein and presented to the
other members of the Premier's Task Force on Crystal Meth.