WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE ILLEGAL DRUGS MOST OFTEN USED

Ask The Expert

Knowledge is power when it comes to understanding the spreading usage
of illegal drugs, says a 10-year veteran of the drug war.

Steve Walton, a former detective sergeant with Calgary's drug unit,
provided more than 100 Airdrie parents, health professionals and
social service professionals with a street drug overview, at Bert
Church Theatre, March 2.

As part of his presentation he focussed on the so-called "big three"
street drugs in Alberta - methamphetamine, cocaine, and marihuana.

"If you were to call me and tell me you think your kid is on drugs,
the odds are it would be one of these three," said Walton.

An advocate of drug education for children, Walton says many adults
need to brush up on the basics as well. Setting your kids loose on the
Internet to learn about drugs is a bad idea, he added.

"When children use the Internet, they need to be parented and have to
seek out credible sites. For every legitimate site about drugs, there
are 100 that are not," he said."

At the end of the day it all comes down to parenting, and I encourage
parents to open a dialogue with their kids about drugs at a young age.

"Here's some of the information Walton presented:

METHAMPHETAMINE

The danger methamphetamine poses to users and society can not be
understated, says Walton.

"This is a dangerous drug. Most of the chemicals it is made from are
pure and simple poison. We can't provide young people with enough bad
information about it," he said.

According to Walton:

* Methamphetamine is highly addictive, providing a high of 4-20
hours, much longer than cocaine.

Symptoms include heightened alertness, hallucinations and paranoia.
Meth also slows pupil response, inhibits the appetite and can cause a
head-to-toe rash.

* Long term use causes a severe deterioration of health, including
heart, liver and brain damage. The average life span of a heavy user
is 10 years.

* As many as 80 per cent of the people who think they are buying
ecstasy are buying meth, which is more more addictive.

* It is sold in a powered form, which is injected or swallowed, or
in crystal form, which is smoked.

Spotting a chronic meth user isn't difficult, says Walton, as they
often develop violent tendencies, appear to have bad dental hygiene
and have a foul body odour.

"They smell like cat pee. That's how the body deals with the
chemicals. The liver and kidneys can't, so the body tries to sweat
them out," he said.

More and more drug dealers are lacing marihuana with methamphetamine,
says Walton.

"It's not an epidemic, but it is happening more and more," he
said.

Meth labs also pose a significant concern to communities, as chemicals
involved can be highly flammable.

"These are dangerous sites. I went to them as a police officer because
I was paid to. You may live next to one," said Walton.

COCAINE

Unlike methamphetamine, which is more prominent in the northern half
of the province, cocaine is the more commonly used drug in Calgary and
area, says Walton.

However, many people believe cocaine is less dangerous because it is
derived from a plant.

"It's just as dangerous as methamphetamine, because it is organic
means nothing," he said.

According to Walton:

* Cocaine is typically consumed in two forms, as a water soluble
hydrochloride (powder), and in its base form (crack).

* Cocaine provides an intense and short lived high. The user's
pupils dilate, becomes euphoric and becomes energetic. It is an
appetite suppressant.

* Cocaine raises the users' blood pressure, heart rate and body
temperature as it is a nervous system stimulant. It can cause
insomnia, abdominal pain, seizures, stroke and heart attack.

MARIHUANA

One of the most commonly used drugs, marihuana, is also one of the
least understood, says Walton.

The reason is that society no longer thinks of it as a "hard core"
drug, allowing many misconceptions to spread. For instance, many
people aren't sure what the criminal code has to say about marihuana.

"The law is that it is illegal to possess any amount. Society has
become desensitized to it as an illegal drug, and as a result a lot of
young people interpret that as it being legal. The truth is it is an
illegal drug, and if we don't warn our kids about that, they may come
across a hard nosed officer who will take them to the wall over
possessing just a little bit of it," said Walton.

Another misconception is that marihuana is safe from a health stand
point because it is organic.

"The fact that there is a debate about this has me flabbergasted.
People are ignoring the science," he said Walton.

According to Walton:

* The drug causes euphoria, acts as a calming agent, is an appetite
stimulant, slows eye pupil response, and causes red eye.

* Symptoms include confusion, inappropriate emotional response,
short term memory loss, impaired motor skills. * Marihuana contains
2,200 toxins more than cigarettes.

* THC, the active ingredient of marihuana, has been linked to
schizophrenia.

* THC was proved to cause a physical addiction by the Harvard
Medical School in 2000.

* Stronger marihuana can be a hallucinogen. In 1978 typical
marihuana found in Alberta had 0.5 to 3 per cent THC. Now it typically
contains 17-25 per cent.

* Marihuana causes damage to reproductive organs in both males and
females.

* It has been statistically proven to be a so called "gateway
drug.""Marihuana leads to other drugs. That's just common sense.
People who smoke marihuana are more likely than people who don't smoke
marihuana to try other drugs. Clearly it is a gateway drug," said Walton.

People should be concerned about risks associated with grow
operations, which often involve large quantities of electricity used
to power sun lamps in high humidity environments, says Walton. At any
one time there are about 4,000 illegal grow operations operating in
Alberta.

"There are inherent dangers. One joint may seem harmless, but that one
joint had to come from somewhere," he said.