METH GROUP HITS THE STREET

A local methamphetamine task force is hitting the streets Monday to
alert retailers about potentially dangerous products they sell.

Crystal methamphetamine, or meth, is an increasingly popular, highly
addictive and deadly drug.

It's cooked up in home labs, made from substances available at
pharmacies and hardware stores.

Two of the active ingredients, ephedrine and pseudoephedrine, are
contained in cough and allergy medicine. Other ingredients and tools
are available at hardware stores, including camping fuel, acetone and
red phosphorous.

Surrey Methamphetamine Regional Task Force (SMART), a group of about
20 people, is launching a campaign next week to educate retailers.

"There's going to be a press conference Monday at District 3
(policing station in Newton)," said SMART chair Bruce Hayne Friday.
"From there we're going to be going to three retailers in the
immediate vicinity."

Shoppers Drug Mart, Canadian Tire and Safeway, all in Newton, will be
the first retailers, Hayne said, chosen in part because of their
track record as good corporate citizens.

Over the 90-day initiative, the group is going to hit about 200
retailers, Hayne said.

The program comes on the heels of a call for a national crackdown on
the sale of meth "precursor drugs" such as ephedrine.

Last month, the National Association of Pharmacy Regulatory
Authorities wanted to restrict the sale of the cold and allergy
medicines containing the drug to pharmacies, where they would be sold
over the counter.

However, that's up to the B.C. College of Pharmacists, and college
registrar Marshall Moleschi said his group isn't prepared to restrict
the sale of the precursors just yet as it's apparent they aren't
being widely used to make meth.

Surrey Fire Chief Len Garis, also a member of the meth task force
agreed, saying "the key products are generally not of the
pharmaceutical grade... the majority of it appears to be coming from
offshore," such as Mexico, Europe and China.

As a result, SMART is focusing much of its attention on the chemicals
found in hardware stores in an attempt to restrict the supply of
meth, which is making its way into local high schools.

A recent study indicated eight per cent of Surrey high school
students have tried the drug and four to five per cent of them
continue to use it, Hayne said.

Cutting off supply with enforcement alone is next to impossible,
according to Surrey's fire chief.

The Surrey Fire department has attended meth labs on about seven
occasions in the last four years.

The number is relatively low because of the nature of the labs.

"They can cook the stuff in a home, in a shed, in a trailer, in a
van, and they're very portable, they can move very quickly," Garis
said. "It's a real challenge from what I understand."