CRYSTAL CLEAR

The federal government made a dramatic show of getting tough on crystal
meth yesterday.

No fewer than three senior cabinet ministers got in on the announcement
that penalties for possessing, making and trafficking methamphetamine are
now in line with offences associated with heroin and cocaine.

The maximum penalty for production and distribution has increased to life
in prison from 10 years.

The feds have also proposed making possession of chemicals used to make
crystal meth, said to be more addictive than crack cocaine, illegal.

Any measures that combat the growing scourge of addiction to
methamphetamine -- a drug known as the poor man's cocaine -- are welcome.

Justice Minister Irwin Cotler said special prosecutors will also deal with
serious cases and speak to judges prior to sentencing about how this
insidious drug -- which is cheap and easy to make -- destroys lives.

These moves come not a moment too soon.

Addiction to crystal meth, which is particularly popular in rural areas and
in western Canada, is growing at an alarming rate.

As Saskatchewan Premier Lorne Calvert pointed out in response to the
announcement, Canada must act quickly.

"A few years ago the incidents of crystal meth in the United States were
similar to what we're seeing in parts of Canada," he said. "Within a matter
of three or four years this has become an epidemic."

The Liberals have dragged their heels on concrete steps to combat this drug
- -- which rots users' teeth, their lives and the very communities that
surround them.

Yet there is a real danger this is too little, too late, to halt this
growing problem in its tracks.

Federal Conservative justice critic Vic Toews said the Liberal strategy is
not much more than window dressing.

When maximum sentences have been increased in the past, they have rarely
been imposed. What's needed is tougher action, such as mandatory minimum
penalties to get manufacturers off the street.

The province should also look at beefing up RCMP ranks, since this drug is
most popular in small rural communities hit by shortages of RCMP officers.

It is crystal-clear that anything less is merely slapping a Band-Aid on a
gaping wound that's already begun to fester.