RCMP SUPPORT LOCAL INITIATIVE TO MONITOR SALE OF METH INGREDIENTS

While RCMP say most of the crystal meth in Grande Prairie is brought in,
they still see a benefit in educating businesses to monitor the sale of
ingredients used to manufacture it.

"I don't know if it will have a big impact or not, because we have no
knowledge of people making their own methamphetamines in our area, but if
someone was doing that then yes, it will have an impact because they won't
have the raw materials," said Const. Scott Hagarty of the Grande Prairie
RCMP community policing unit.

Hagarty said a member of the drug unit will be coming to Grande Prairie in
September and will be educating businesses about the types of products
needed to manufacture meth.

"We are looking at providing information for our businesses and we're
hoping they will come on board and, if they feel there is something
suspicious, then I'm hoping they'll report it to us."

Hagarty said aside from pharmacies, which started monitoring the sale of
ephedrine and pseudoephedrine last year, there is already one business in
Grande Prairie on watch for suspicious customers.

"If some guy phones up, doesn't want to produce ID and wants to pay in
cash, that is something they have agreed to notify us about."

Hagarty said the training has already halted a potential purchase that may
have been headed for a meth lab.

"They have, in fact, called and reported a suspicious transaction that
someone was attempting to do where they did not want to provide
identification and just wanted to pay cash. They were going to pick up the
product and the business wouldn't sell it to them. In that case, it was
successful ... the information they gained allowed them to make that
decision, to recognize there was something suspicious."

Police say there are dozens of recipes used to make meth, but some of the
more common ingredients are ephedrine, phosphorus, iodine. More recently,
Mounties have asked farmers and supply stores to monitor their fertilizer
as anhydrous ammonia has become a popular ingredient for making the drug as
well.

Hagarty said the drug is most popular among people aged 20 to 30 because
it's cheap and yet has a big effect on users. "For them, it's more bang for
their buck, so that's why it's being abused by them."

He said the prevalence of meth in Grande Prairie is having far-reaching
effects.

"It does have a big impact in the community in that people who do get
addicted, it becomes their sole purpose to get meth. They often lose their
employment. It's devastating on their family and a lot of the property
crimes are directly related to the drug issue in town."

At a protective services meeting last week, administration was directed to
look into the possibilities for a community strategy that would prevent
meth ingredients from getting into the wrong hands.