MONEY FOR METH CARE

Psychosis, physical illness and a life of crime are what today's youth
are being offered when they try crystal meth for the first time.

Yesterday provincial health minister George Abbott announced the
province will spend $8 million on drug prevention, treatment and youth
education, including $2 million allocated to address crystal meth use.

"The dangers of crystal meth are well known and the cycle of addiction
can be devastating," Abbott said. "To break the cycle of addiction, we
need to prevent it before it starts."

Abbott announced that the new funding will bring more treatment beds
to the province, helping to combat the desperate need for users in
recovery.

Vancouver Deputy Police Chief Bob Rich welcomed the increase in annual
spending, emphasizing the impact the drug has had on West coast
communities.

"We identified about 200 young people in Vancouver who were engaging
in a crime of identity theft," Rich said, adding that those caught
were largely meth-heads paying for their habit.

"There are people right now coming off of crystal meth," Rich said. "A
video tape of what they are going through would near any horror movie
video that you have ever seen. It would make your blood chill to see."