METH WATCH EYES HOME DRUG LABS

Local Retailers Urged To Participate In Effort To Stop
Methamphetamine Production

Timed appropriately enough at the height of the cold and flu season,
a local initiative to be launched Wednesday is aimed at stemming the
creation of home-based meth labs by limiting access to certain drug
medications and other everyday household products.

Christa Mullaly, addiction specialist with Richmond Addiction
Services, said the Meth Watch program is designed to stop the theft
and suspicious sales of meth manufacturing ingredients found in
over-the-counter cold and allergy medication sold in pharmacies, drug
stores and grocery outlets.

But it's not just products containing pseudoephedrine and ephedrine
that are being eyed.

Also critical in the drug's production are products the general
public likely isn't aware are used to make methamphetamine. That list
includes rubbing and isopropyl alcohol, iodine, lithium batteries,
paint thinner, coffee filters, propane tanks, acetone, starter fluid,
drain cleaner, rock or table salt, lye, matchbooks, camping fuel and
gasoline additives.

Mullaly said the intent is not to disrupt the availability of legal
products, but rather to take notice when somebody is buying an
inordinate quantity of these items and then doing something with that
information by relaying it to police.

"Every community needs something like this," she said.

What prompted some cities to set up this program was the fact the
problem of meth labs and meth use was more apparent in their
communities, Mullaly said.

"In Richmond, drug use historically has really flown below the radar.
Richmond is doing this...to be proactive and really raise awareness
throughout the community about what some of these (chemical) precursors are."

Organizers hope to control the sale of these products at the
community level while helping customers, retailers and their
employees to understand more about the problem.

"People don't really know how meth is made or the products that go
into the manufacture of meth."

Does Richmond really have a bad drug problem?

"In terms of all drug use, Richmond is not unlike any other
community. What is different in Richmond is how it looks. Richmond
doesn't have a downtown eastside, Richmond doesn't have a city centre
where the high-risk population congregates."

There are statistics that show how many local people are seeking drug
abuse treatment, and there are figures from the police about crimes
connected to drug users.

But that doesn't paint the entire picture, she said.

"There's another whole population that isn't accessing treatment and
isn't coming into conflict with the law yet, that are totally
unreported people that are using drugs. So you really don't have a
clear picture from any statistics that you see what the magnitude of
the issue is."

There's nothing to suggest that Richmond is replete with home-based
drug labs, but Mullaly points out that part of the reason for Meth
Watch's existence is to ensure that doesn't happen.

"Richmond has always been a proactive community especially when it
comes to things such as collaboration for safety. That was part of
the driving force behind Richmond becoming designated as a safe
community, is that we wanted to be preventative and we wanted to be
proactive and to be able to identify issues while they're small
issues so we can actually put some measures in places to be able to
make sure they don't grow into large issues."

It didn't take long to convince Home Hardware manager Norbert Ching
about the program's merits. He likes the idea of having this in
Richmond and is prepared to spread the word to other merchants to jump aboard.

"That's good. I like that," he said. "And I can help talk to other stores."

It was just last September when two major ecstasy labs were busted on
No. 5 Road and Steveston Highway, which when combined were capable of
producing hundreds of millions of dollars worth of drugs and posed a
serious threat of exploding.

Meth Watch organizers, however, will be mainly targeting the more
modest home-operated labs that can draw on readily-available products
to manufacture the extremely addictive and relatively cheap drug
which has wreaked havoc in the United States.

Mullaly said Meth Watch is just one step in the battle, complementary
of other efforts at the provincial and federal level.

Asked if she sees the need for legislation to be put in place to
further control the sale of certain products used in the manufacture
of meth, Mullaly said: "I don't think we want to be in a place where
we're absolutely monitored by anyone, but I think by virtue of
raising awareness...putting the truth out there instead of utilizing
scare tactics to try to scare people away from talking about drugs
and using drugs, we really need to put some real information out
there for people and this is just one piece of the puzzle."

Organized and developed by the Substance Use, Misuse and Addiction
sub-group of the Richmond Safe Communities Alliance, the program
hopes to enlist the cooperation of local retailers and law
enforcement agencies to prevent legitimate products from being used
for illegal purposes.

Employees and management of local retailers who work the front lines
will be key to the program's success.

During a community-wide blitz starting next weekend, volunteers will
be visiting more than 250 local shops, including convenience stores,
identified as selling products that could be used in the production
of methamphetamine.

These retailers will be asked to post Meth Watch signs in their
stores, and use a specially designed web portal to train their
employees to recognize suspicious transactions.

Mullaly said there are currently about 20 volunteers signed up to
help, but a total of 40 will be needed. Each will be trained and then
partnered up with an auxiliary member of the Richmond RCMP and go
store-to-store to sign up merchants. Pamphlets and information about
the program is available in both English and Chinese.

Volunteer training will take place next Tuesday, Feb. 7, from 6 to 7
p.m. at Richmond City Hall (Room 2.002), where they will be given the
information necessary to explain the Meth Watch program.

A community information session will be held inside council chambers
at City Hall on Wednesday, Feb. 8, from 7 to 9 p.m., when the program
will officially launch.

A community blitz is scheduled for Friday, Feb. 10 and Saturday, Feb. 11.

There are some simple things that retailers can do to make it
uncomfortable for drug dealers to buy what they need.

Red-flagged products can be strategically placed inside stores, the
quantity of the product placed on store shelves can be limited, and
limitations can be placed on the amount that can be purchased.

When a retailer notices a suspicious transaction, they can contact
the RCMP's Chemical Diversion Hotline at 1-800-387-0020.

"Of course, we don't encourage any of the employees at the retail
businesses to try to stop someone from purchasing. They don't have
the power to do that at this point and that's where we're going to
see legislation come down from some other level that really does put
regulation and restriction on how people can purchase that."

Right now, the only system that's in place is the reporting system.

Though Meth Watch hasn't been set up in Richmond yet, the local RCMP
have already received a couple of calls from the RCMP chemical
diversion hotline to follow-up on suspicious purchases. She believes
those calls were made because of the publicity this program has
received from other neighbouring communities where Meth Watch has
been established.