METH-ADDICTS' LOVED ONES SHARE THEIR GRIEF AT SOCIETY'S LAUNCH

Standing at a podium in a packed room a mother wept as she told the
story of her 15-year-old daughter addicted to crystal meth. "It is
very hard for me," she said haltingly.

With a friend's arm around her shoulder the entire time, she recounted
the sad story of how she hardly sees her daughter, whose new full-time
home is Victoria's streets.

This mother's story is eerily similar to the others who came to the
Wednesday launch of the newly formed Crystal Meth Victoria Society.
The group hopes to fight the spread of crystal meth among youth in
many ways including a resource website for parents and users.

Society volunteer Nancy Pearson's 14-year-old niece is addicted to the
drug.

"It's a very painful experience for each of us in the family," she
said. "Day by day it's a challenge to try and get the help needed."

Pearson sometimes goes looking for her niece on the streets when she
runs away from home and often finds her in Bastion Square and Pioneer
Square next to Christ Church Cathedral with other addicted teens.

Job, gak, speed, crank, ice - whatever you want to call it, crystal
meth is a problem that affects Victoria's youth.

Statistics over the past four years show an alarming rise in the
number of youth in Victoria who use crystal meth more than any other
drug. Victoria's Youth Detox Centre statistics show a jump from just
11 per cent in 2000 to 61 per cent in 2003-04.

"Ten years ago it wasn't here," Victoria Police Const. Brad Fraser
said holding a gram of the white crystalized substance in his hands.
As someone who deals with meth users on a daily basis, Fraser said the
group's web site is "a great first step."

"Now there's a place they can have discussions," he said, noting that
the Internet is normally where users find the recipe in the first place.

The website gives parents, health care workers, educators and youth a
list of support services, educational materials like family coping
strategies and information on how to support a local group in any of
the province's communities.

Youth between the ages of 14 and 29 are particularly at risk for
getting hooked, founding director and Esquimalt councillor Ruth Layne
said.

"Those that are athletes, that are high achievers, those who want to
lose weight, those who attend rave dances, those who live in rural
communities - that's just about all our kids."

Parents of 13-year-old meth addicted girls are commonly walking
through Jennifer Hellings door. She works for the Boys and Girls Club
Parents Together program and said "desperate" parents come in when
they notice "dramatic changes" in their children. "It's been an
ongoing problem," she said.

Another ugly side of the drug is its connection with other illegal
activity, Hellings said.

There's a "direct connection" between the sex trade and crystal meth
use. "Absolutely this is happening in Victoria."

One of the major contributors to crystal meth's increase is that it's
relatively easy to make, with most ingredients available at hardware
and drug stores, Layne said.

That's why the society is pushing for retailers to remove some of the
main ingredients of the highly toxic compound from their shelves.
Typical ingredients include certain brands of cold medication,
kerosene and lithium batteries.

Simply putting those ingredients behind the counter would help reduce
the spread, Layne said noting that London Drugs has already taken
steps to review sales of their products. The group's webpage is
available at http://www.crystalmethbc.ca.