TARGETING CRYSTAL METH

Crystal meth is a viciously toxic, addictive drug that can kill brain
cells, damage brain blood vessels, and cause psychosis, convulsions,
cardiovascular collapse, strokes and death. It also rots teeth.

But methamphetamine hydrochloride, a.k.a. crystal, ice, glass, is also a
cheap, easily made and increasingly popular high with some drug users. It's
a growing public health concern.

Prime Minister Paul Martin's decision last week to crack down on the drug
has been hailed by premiers and police. Ottawa is raising the top penalty
for trafficking to life in prison from 10 years, and for possession to
seven years from three, putting meth on a par with heroin or cocaine.

But substance-abuse experts warn that the tougher penalties are not likely
to deter users any more than they deter heroin and cocaine use.

To be effective, stiff penalties must be paired with aggressive campaigns
to drive home the health risks of meth use, especially among young people.
And the makers of cold and hay fever remedies, whose products are abused to
make crystal meth, must be encouraged to reformulate them to prevent the
pseudoephedrine they contain from being easily converted into methamphetamine.

The alarm over crystal meth exposes Martin to criticism of kowtowing to
American drug policies, and of domestic policy incoherence. Ottawa is
decriminalizing possession of one drug, marijuana, even as it stiffens
penalties for another.

Few, though, would argue that marijuana is in the same league as crystal
meth, which is far more destructive.

Ottawa's move invites Canada's judges to get tougher with those who produce
and sell crystal meth for profit, if only to get pushers off the streets
and shut down local labs. That said, half the meth in the United States is
imported from Mexico.

Ottawa's move must be accompanied by stepped-up efforts to alert the public
to the dangers of this drug, before it spreads further. People should be
aware of the threat, and be alert to the symptoms: insomnia, confusion,
hyperactivity, irritability.

If necessary, Ottawa should consider regulatory measures. In Oregon, for
example, people need a doctor's prescription to buy cold remedies.

And hopefully, pharmaceutical firms will reformulate products to make
regulation unnecessary.

But the best short-term defence against crystal meth is public awareness of
its toxic effects.