CRYSTAL METH PANDEMIC LOOMING

Information Session Designed To Curb Abuse At Local
Level

Steps are being taken in Grand Falls-Windsor to curb the use of
crystal meth.

According to pharmacist Sandra Carey, information is the first step
and sharing that knowledge is the purpose behind a public meeting
being held in the community Thursday night (March 16) at 7 p.m. in the
lecture theatre at the College of the North Atlantic.

"People who want to ask questions, or those who wish to see some of
the drug issues that users are exposed to are welcome to come to the
information session," said Ms. Carey, who will be the presenter for
the evening.

She said crystal meth is not only a local issue here on the island;
medical professionals are also talking about a looming global meth
pandemic.

"Dr. Hamid Ghodse, president of the International Narcotic Control
Board (INCB) is stressing that methamphetamine abuse is already the
biggest drug problem in North America and that it is rising at an
extremely worrying rate internationally," explained the pharmacist. "A
recent newspaper article out of Vienna says the INCB is calling for
governments around the world to introduce tighter controls on the
easily-accessible chemicals that are used to make crystal meth.

"This is a very serious issue and we need to educate as many people in
the community as we can," she added.

Medical professionals and the RCMP will also be on hand to answer
questions.

Constable Brent Hillier of the Grand Falls-Windsor District RCMP, who
will answer legal questions, is encouraging everybody to attend the
information session.

He said crystal meth is already showing up in central Newfoundland and
most people are susceptible to the highly addictive drug.

"Professionals are saying children who are first experimenting with
drugs are as young as 13. Therefore our focus group is age 13 and up,"
he said. "We also want teachers, parents, business owners, taxi
drivers, etc. to be aware of the signs and symptoms of meth use.

"When somebody is on a certain high they may want to keep that high
and they may resort to property crime or violence and those are the
things the public should be aware of."

The police officer said one positive move towards deterring crystal
meth use is government's plan to implement a ban on some cold remedies
from corner stores, and its plans to tighten rules on how such items
can be sold in pharmacies since the ingredients in some popular cold
remedies can be used to make the highly addictive street drug.

The provincial government expects to have the new rules on cold
medicines in place by April.

The RCMP will also have a display of the drug and paraphernalia on
hand during the information session so people can become familiar
enough with the items to recognize them easily.