GIVEN WANTS CRYSTAL METH INGREDIENTS OUT OF REACH

Frustrated with lives going down the drain, Ald. Bill Given wants the
supply of crystal meth ingredients stopped in Grande Prairie.

A strategy, said Given, needs to be created that would ask stores to
monitor sales of potential methamphetamine ingredients and report anything
suspicious to the police.

Restricting sales of ingredients could be one part of blocking crystal meth
from getting into people's hands, said Given at Tuesday's protective
services committee meeting.

"It certainly won't address the entire issue of crystal meth, but it is a
starting point and I believe by taking small chunks of the problem and
addressing them that we can have a greater impact on the overall issue."

There are cases where retailers have voluntarily put certain products
behind their shelves to restrict their sales that have been successful,
said Given, but he also wants to see a community strategy where retailers
watch for buyers of crystal meth ingredients.

"It may be possible to see retailers increase their awareness of people who
may be buying things in unusually large quantities or unusually often, and,
in those sort of cases, making reports back to police," he said. "I would
hope to see a strategy come out where both the people buying them for
illegal purposes are aware they may be recorded and reported and also that
the community knows that we are looking at the issue; that we are concerned
about it; that we are taking action."

Crystal meth is a major issue that needs to be dealt with in any way
possible, said Grande Prairie RCMP operations NCO Staff Sgt. Curtis Zablocki.

"In a lot of our communities around Alberta, crystal meth is a huge
problem," he said.

"In Grande Prairie, we do have a presence of crystal meth as well. The
availability of ingredients, which is a province and nationwide issue, does
need attention."

Ald. Dwight Logan suggested while crystal meth may be the target of any
possible community strategy, that the city does not close its eyes to the
problems of other drugs.

Any strategy should also be taken into rural areas, said Ald. John Croken,
as some crystal meth ingredients can be stolen from farms and farmers need
to be aware of it.

So long as it has the backing of local businesses, Given believes that such
a program could be successful in much the same way Safe City Nights has been.

"We saw great changes in the way the owners of licenced establishments
co-operated with RCMP and I would hope this may be another situation where
we could do something in that similar vein."

City administration was asked by the protective services committee to
explore ways to make a community strategy on restricting crystal meth
ingredients possible.