PROVINCES TRY TO FIGHT CRYSTAL METH

3% of Manitobans have tried drug: study

VANCOUVER -- Crystal meth, the dangerous drug of choice for an
increasing number of regular drug users, is migrating across Canada
from west to east, bringing devastating health effects to its users
and complex challenges to those working to prevent its spread.

A new report on the drug's presence in Western Canada will be
presented Friday to a special meeting of provincial ministers and
representatives from U.S. border states who are working to prevent the
use of crystal meth.

The report shows that British Columbia has the highest number of
methamphetamine users -- with about 190,000 people using the drug at
least once in the past year -- followed by Alberta, Saskatchewan and
Manitoba. There is also evidence of increasing hospital admissions and
police contacts with people high on the drug.

But while it notes the unquestionable need for a comprehensive
strategy to combat crystal meth, the health and law enforcement
experts who contributed to the report say Canada is not in the midst
of a meth crisis.

Street kids, party drug users and gay men are increasingly using
crystal meth because it's cheap and the high can last for days, but
the report says the drug is not catching on with other
populations.

"Most people, if they're using methamphetamine, they're going to do it
once or twice and then they're going to quit," said Dr. Perry Kendall,
B.C.'s provincial health officer and a contributor to the report. The
drug, also known as jib or crank, curbs hunger and can keep the user
awake for days. Long-term use can lead to lead to symptoms of
psychosis, paranoia and depression.

A 2004 study showed that 5.1 per cent of B.C.'s population had used
the drug at least once during the previous year. In Alberta, four per
cent of the population -- or 108,000 people -- had used it; in
Manitoba, three per cent of the population -- or 33,400 people -- had
used it; and in Saskatchewan, 2.8 per cent of the population -- or
27,700 people -- had used crystal meth at least once in the previous
year.

While street kids and club-goers make up the largest group of users,
the report says the drug also appeals to students, athletes, waiters,
long-distance drivers, and software programmers.

The drug has not yet become a drug of choice for high school students
and the report says scare tactics and meth-specific campaigns aimed at
that age group will not be successful.

"What doesn't seem to work is the sort of overblown, overdramatization
of the dangers," Kendall said Wednesday in a phone interview. "Before
we're saying it's having a horrible effect on communities let's try
and step back and find out what it is doing to our
communities."

In B.C., the number of deaths related to crystal meth has been
steadily rising since 2000, when there were just two recorded. In
2003, there were 12 meth-related deaths. And in Victoria, the number
of crystal meth users treated at the youth detox centre there jumped
from 11 per cent in 2000 to 61 per cent in 2003/2004.

The report is based on information gathered last November during a
three-day summit in Vancouver, where 250 delegates shared their
expertise and knowledge in an effort to put together a realistic,
evidence-based assessment of the crystal meth situation in the western
provinces and northern territories.