CRYSTAL METH INGREDIENT PUT BEHIND THE COUNTER

Most stores at this time of year are doing a little redecorating and
redesigning for the holiday season to increase sales, and pharmacies are no
different. But this week, most pharmacists aren't hanging garland and
wreaths to welcome holiday shoppers, they are instead rearranging certain
boxes of cold tablets, to deter illegal drug users from purchasing their stock.

In an effort to make it more difficult to produce crystal methamphetamine,
the Alberta government has passed an amendment to take the main ingredient,
pseudoephedrine, off pharmacy shelves and put it behind the counter.

The relatively cheap and easy to make street drug is produced, in part,
with cough and cold medicines containing ephedrine and pseudoephedrine. It
is also created using common household ingredients that can be found at
local hardware stores, resulting in a rise of crystal meth labs.

Greg Eberhart, registrar of the Alberta College of pharmacists, said that
18 months ago, they recommended that pharmacists take steps to restrict
access to these drugs that were available in pharmacies, but at the same
time those same products were available in many other commercial outlets
throughout our communities.

"It was one thing for pharmacists to be aware and deal with these from a
professional perspective, accessibility and availability were still
available in corner stores and gas stations and the only way to address
that was through an amendment to the regulations."

With the regulation change, Alberta joins British Columbia, Manitoba and
Saskatchewan in imposing greater restrictions on the sale of these ingredients.

Olds RCMP officers lauded the announcement.

Cpl. Jeff Mercier said meth use in town is becoming more common and
anything that will help stop the drug's availability is a step in the right
direction.

"The harder it is to access (ingredients), the harder it is to make your
product," Mercier said.

Overall, meth use in town still seems relatively low. About half a dozen
arrests have made in 2005 for possession of meth, but police know the drug
is in the area. In February, local RCMP and drug squads from Edmonton and
Calgary made Alberta's biggest meth lab bust, confiscating 12.5 kilograms
of the drug from a lab on a farm near Cremona.

The bust was worth $3 million, but that was only the beginning; Mercier
said it is tough to know just how many labs are in production at a given time.

"We would be foolish to think that there weren't any (labs). As for an
exact number, I am not sure. They are so mobile, you can have a lab in your
backpack, in the trunk of your car, in your whole basement," he said.

Mercier also said the growing use of meth is also leading to more crime in
general, not just in Olds, in things such as theft and violent activity.

"People will steal any thing to get their hands on, for a fix of meth. . A
lot of the break-ins are to support meth habits, stolen vehicles we get are
often driven by meth addicts," Mercier said.

Iris Evans, health and wellness minister said that with all the western
provinces now on board, we are able to make a unified push to control the
production of crystal meth.

"By restricting the sale of the main precursors of the drug, we hope to
reduce the production and sale of this dangerous drug," he said. "I think
we've made the right move to continue our fight against crystal meth
without unnecessarily limiting access to medications that Albertans may
legitimately need."

Eberhart said it is important to understand that although this is an
important step to decrease access to this drug, it is only a very small
step in reducing the numbers of users of the drug.

He said this measure is more likely to decrease only the "mom and pop
operations" which produce very small quantities, which is still a positive
start.

"If we can even save one life it's worth it," he said, "It's known that
organized crime is getting it in large quantities through various means."

Crystal meth is a stimulant that affects the central nervous system. It is
10 times as powerful as regular speed, highly addictive and it can be
fatal. It increases a person's heart rate and pulse, making him or her feel
more awake and alert. It can cause heart attack and stroke.

Eberhart said pharmacies limit quantities sold to customers to 3,600 mg or
less, or about 60 tablets or so.

"There's little reason as to why an individual would need more than that
and quite frankly if someone needs more than that there's obvious questions
to be asked."

Pharmacists at two of the Pharmacies in Olds, said the drugs with
pseudoephedrine have been behind the counter for the last 18 months, and
they would never sell more than a few boxes to each costumer.

Ted Charbonneau, owner of Tedd's Food mart in Olds, said he hasn't heard
anything about the new amendment but when he is informed, either by
distributors or the government, he will certainly comply.

While meth isn't as big a problem as it is in communities like Drayton
Valley, Sgt. Bob Phillips said the Olds detachment is constantly being
trained about the highly-addictive drug, but he said the community also
needs to be educated as well.

"(Meth) is new. It's a major learning curve for us, it's something that we
haven't dealt with before and we are learning more and more through
specialists," Phillips said.

"We're getting there but we got a ways to go."

Phillips said the detachment is trying to bring in a meth expert to speak
with the Community Advisory Committee and help get the message out to town
residents, something Phillips believes is paramount.

"I've been around a long, long time and I've seen a lot of stuff but this
stuff is something society as a whole better get ready for. It's nasty,
nasty, nasty stuff."