METH INGREDIENTS WATCHED

The B.C. government will be monitoring bulk sales of cold medications
in its battle against crystal meth.

Solicitor General John Les said meth labs utilize bulk commercial
imports of chemicals, not off-the-shelf cough syrups and cold pills
but no chance is being taken.

"Meth labs in B.C. are highly organized, commercial operations," said
Solicitor General John Les.

"While it's rare for them to use over-the-counter drugs, we want to be
thorough as possible."

Through the Meth Watch program, police, pharmacists and retailers will
monitor closely for bulk sales and theft of cold medications.

If there is any evidence of misuse of retail products, the government
will restrict sales to licensed pharmacies.

"While some provinces are pulling cold medicines from the shelves, the
situation in B.C. does not yet require the same approach," said Les.

Mike Hunter chairs the Nanaimo Community Crystal Meth Task Force and
said while simple tasks of putting cold medications behind the counter
might not sound like much, it creates awareness and that is always
helpful.

"I'm pleased the B.C. government is paying serious attention to this
issue," he said. "This is poison and we can't afford to play around
with it."

Main ingredients to making crystal meth include psuedoephedrine, an
active ingredient in Sudafed, iodine crystals, red phosphorus, made
from the strike pad on a match book, Coleman fuel, muriatic acid,
acetone, methanol or denatured alcohol.