CRYSTAL METH 'POISON': HUNTER

One after another, Mike Hunter emptied the contents of the grocery
bag onto the podium for all to see.

He produced a bottle of drain cleaner, some methyl hydrate, a box of
decongestant capsules, some batteries and a book of paper matches.

"These products are being used to manufacture crystal meth," Hunter said.

"I think those kind of products, people ingesting them, smoking them,
putting them in their bodies, is something we need to pay attention to."

Hunter, who heads up a crystal meth task force in Nanaimo - one of
nearly a dozen formed in B.C. in recent months - was speaking to the
Greater Nanaimo Chamber of Commerce.

Methamphetamine was first synthesized by the Japanese in 1919, and
was issued to soldiers to boost alertness during the Second World War.

It became a recreational drug known as speed or crank in the late
1960s, giving birth to the slogan "Speed Kills" in the 1970s.

Hunter said it's a problem in Nanaimo, though much of the information
on how widely it's used is anecdotal.

"Part of the problem is there is no real quantitative measures of
crystal meth use, but there are some qualitative measures."

"A lot of addicts don't admit to using this stuff because they know
it causes problems."

The committee studying the problem will come up with recommendations
in another month or so, and Hunter said he couldn't predict what the
group would recommend. But he hopes the community gets behind the group.

"I will say this to the Vancouver Island Health Authority - smarten
up, guys, because we have a medical problem here."

The former MLA said he had to push VIHA hard just to add a half-dozen
new addiction treatment beds in Nanaimo. More resources are needed.

"We need to change our attitudes about drug addiction and
homelessness," he said.

"In most cases it's because something has gone wrong in a person's
life. Crystal meth is a part of that problem."