POLICE SAY "GET HEADS OUT OF SAND"

The Altona and District Chamber of Commerce members had the chance to
listen to Altona Police Sergeant Perry Batchelor talk about crystal
meth, it's effects, and how prevalent it is in the community of Altona.

Raising awareness about the drug is a passion for Batchelor who
shared stories of how Altona Police have witnessed the violent
physical and mental effects of the drug.

The recent seminars aren't intended to warn people that they should
be on the look out for the drug, it's already here.

Altona Police have been seeing tell tale signs of crystal meth use in
the community since 1999.

Batchelor said recent crime sprees in the Altona area are a result of
needing to feed a crystal meth habit.

"If we have our heads in the sand and we don't think it's here it's
time to dig them out," he said. "All of those thefts were to feed a
meth addiction."

Batchelor has witnessed first hand what happens to people mentally
and physically after becoming addicted to meth. "We have had
attempted residential break and enters with the people still inside
their homes," he said. "We have had a call for service involving two
males with one male in possession of a knife threatening the other male."

Batchelor said the male with the knife was taken into custody and was
under the influence of meth.

Police have even had a suspected lab in Gretna and searched an Altona
home where they found a binder with recipes for meth, hash and hash
oil as well as documents intended for teaching individuals how to
"deal with" police.

"Meth is not hard to educate yourself on," he said. "Just type in
meth in any search engine and you will have a wide array of websites
pop up." The sites can educate concerned parents on signs and
symptoms or teach inquiring minds how to cook the drug. "That's the
thing about the internet, it's the information highway," Batchelor
said. "For everything that's good about it there's a thousand things
that are negative."

Batchelor said it was important for the business community to educate
themselves on the signs and symptoms so they know what they're dealing with.

People high on meth are very impulsive and very goal oriented, always
looking for the next high even if that means robbing the next
convenience store or stealing from friends and family.

"When somebody is high on meth it's not something that they can go
and do at 8 p.m. and be sober by the next morning when they're going
to do their grocery shopping," he said.

Meth users have been known to stay awake for as many as eight days
with very little or no food, only to crash and sleep for three or
four days at a time.

Addicts suffer extreme paranoia, have poor hygiene, nausea and suffer
from "crank bugs" or "crystal mites", their teeth rot and fall out
and they loose blood circulation to their extremities. "As it's been
described to me, users feel as though bugs are crawling under their
skin," he said. "They'll constantly be scratching until their skin is
raw. They become fixated on that area." Batchelor said statistics
show that 75 per cent of first time users and 90 per cent of second
time users become addicted. If someone goes back a third time it's
almost impossible to turn back.

Batchelor said penalties for dealing or cooking the drug aren't
serious enough and often include house arrest or maybe three months in jail.

A person could steal a roll of toilet paper from a home and if a
judge wanted to they could sentence the toilet paper thief to life in
prison. "We're going to have to get a lot more serious about our war
on drugs," he said. "Meth knows no socio-economic boundaries. It has
no age, race or professional preference."

Batchelor said Altona Police are not just here to crimp crime but
also to help in times of need. "If you have concerns about a loved
one or someone you know that may be affected by meth or other drugs
you can certainly phone the police," he said.

Contact the Altona Police at 324-5373 for more information.