DON'T PANIC, BUT CRYSTAL METH IS HERE AND DEADLY DANGEROUS

A police constable in Victoria is quoted on a pamphlet about crystal
meth saying: "If there was ever a drug to go to war on, this is the one."

By all that is known about crystal meth, he's right.

It turns users into addicts instantly. It can drain a person of
conscience. It can create unlikely, violent criminals. It can eat
away at a user's health until he looks like a sagging, decrepit man
30 years his senior.

It certainly seems like a drug to fight.

The dilemma in Kelowna is how do you wage a war on something that
most people don't see.

How do you justify addressing this drug when cocaine is much more widely used?

How do we spend resources and time on something that only affects a
small portion of the population?

Those concerns are justifiable, but the reason we need to wage war on
crystal meth is because if we don't it will take your child or
mine--or your father, or your grandmother.

We don't need to panic. But we can't be complacent.

At a community forum in Kelowna last week, there were politicians and
members of organizations and churches listening intently about the
horrors of the drug and how other communities dealt with it.

The goal is to organize and develop a plan for Kelowna. It's the
right thing to do.

There are meth labs in Kelowna that produce the drug cheaply from
disgusting substances such as rat poison. It's also produced by
organized criminals and sold for $20 to $25 a hit.

Kids as young as 11 have become addicts and 13 is a prime target age.
But, it can grab anyone at any age.

This is not a drug that should be left to the RCMP to handle on the
streets using several officers just to restrain one person on meth.

It's not something we should just throw at the hands of Interior
Health to sweep all addicts off into recovery.

We can't expect the courts to throw in harsh sentences to solve the problem.

This is a community project. This is for all of us to face.

At the forum, we heard about the town of Hinton, Alta, a community of
about 10,000, that was literally under siege because of crystal meth.
The whole community chose to fight back.

The ravages of the drug were everywhere. There was more crime as
addicts not only stole from family and friends to get money for their
habit, but recklessly caused damage because they didn't care while high.

There was the story of a pizza delivery fellow who gave a dealer a
ride home and was paid for it with a hit of crystal meth. After
dropping the dealer off, the driver went to his ATM machine, drained
his account and went back to buy more.

The scenarios are all frightening. But, what's riveting is how
quickly it can take hold. That's where Kelowna needs to be prepared.
Crystal meth is out there. Strategically, it's a lot easier to keep
something at bay than get rid of it when it's taken over.

Let's declare war now.