PARENTS, TEENS, ADULTS WERE EDUCATED ABOUT THE DANGERS OF "JIB"

Optimist Club Of Sebringville Host Information Evening

Education is the key to prevention. And that was exactly what
happened March 20 at a full Sebringville Community Centre.

The mix of adults, parents, teens and other concerned community
members learned of the dangers of "ice," "crank," "crystal," "crys,"
"jib." Methamphetamine, or meth, was the subject.

A movie, entitle Death by Jib was shown to the crowd. The graphic
documentary gave viewers a taste of what meth users go through. They
saw addicts, heard their stories, saw people taking the drug and saw
the consequences.

OPP Const. Glen Childerley said, unfortunately, Perth County is known
as the meth capital of Ontario, only three short years after the
first lab bust in 2002.

"It is new to us," he said, referring to the Perth County OPP, adding
the 2002 bust in Monkton has been the largest of the 13 labs found.

"There is no consistency to it," said drug resource officer Const.
Dave Lewis, noting labs started out in houses - often rental
properties - and are now being found in the back of pickup trucks,
fields and wooded areas.

"It keeps us guessing," added Childerley. "We like to think we are
staying on top of it and one of the ways we'e doing that is by
educating people as to what to look for and report to us."

People often don't want to come forward because they are afraid of
problems down the road, he said, but added Crime Stoppers is an
avenue to choose.

"There is no sense candy coating it because you can't. Meth is
scary," said Childerley. "The scary part about meth is it is highly,
highly addictive. First time usage of it you are hooked and that is
the scary part of it."

In the first meth bust in 2002, police arrested 10 people.

"One of the girls actually thanked us for arresting her because she
hadn't slept for 14 days. She had been up on a high, she looked like
she was ready for a casket," he said.

Paranoia, inability to sleep, meth mouth - the loss of teeth and
black gums - and open sores are signs of a meth user. He said the
most common report of a lab is a very strong smell like cat urine and
discarded ingredient containers.

"The other scary part about the meth is it is so easy to make," said
Childerley, noting there are recipes available on the internet,
including the one brought to Perth County.

On a shopping adventure to Canadian Tire, Childerley said he was able
to purchase most of the precursors to make methamphetamine - camp
fuel, paint thinner, drano, quick start, camera batteries.

Sudafed can be picked up at pharmacies, but Childerley noted many are
taking the purchase of the decongestant seriously, placing cameras to
capture buyer's faces. He also noted many hardware store and farm
supply stores, where meth makers get another precursor - anhydrous
ammonia - have jumped on board to catch the cooks.

He warned the audience not to touch discarded propane tanks with blue
valves. The ammonia is so powerful that it turns the copper valve
blue and the tank could explode, Childerley cautioned.

The officer noted there is not a provincial task force working with
the suppliers of the meth precursors to make them harder to get.

Childerley said there is no real science to it all but noted some
labs have blown up because the ingredients are volatile and
dangerous. He said statistics from the U.S. show one in every four
meth labs explode.

There are many residual effects of the drug, he said.

"They are not productive people," he said, adding most users cannot
hold a job and steal from cars and property to get money.

"The people who are making this stuff and involved in this stuff are
the ones who are driving the Cadillacs with the bling around their
neck. They are burnt out, they are dirty, their hygiene isn't there,
their care for things isn't there," said Childerley.

Lewis added, "They are not getting rich off this stuff. They are
making it for themselves because they are so highly addicted."

"A lot of officers have been dealing with kids who have to go to the
hospital, our medical staff are seeing a lot of problems and don't
quite know how to deal with it," said Lewis, noting police are trying
to get aid for these kids, but is is coming slowly.

"We looking for funding to open things (treatment centres) up locally."

Lewis said there are not enough facilities to help people, one of the
things the task force is working on is to bring them locally. The
government has recognized it is a problem, he added, saying new laws
for the manufacturing of methamphetamine allows for a maximum life sentence.

"Perth is a testing ground for it all, unfortunately," Childerley added.

He said the drug is not prejudiced by any means. The two major age
groups are those 14 to 26 and 35 to 50.

"Peer pressure is a major factor," said Childerley, stressing that is
the way education at an early age is so important.