MADNESS TO THE METH HEADS

There's something new on the drug scene. You don't smoke it, drink it or
snort it but Saanich police are hoping it reaches as many people as
possible. It's called awareness and it's aimed at helping young people and
their parents make informed choices about their lives.

A number of illegal drugs have always been ubiquitous on the street. In
Saanich, marijuana is the substance most often seized by police. Cocaine has
long been the second most common drug, though that could change as
methamphetamine crowds coke off the scene.

"Just in my experience, there's been a big increase in methamphetamine,"
says Saanich police Const. Dean Duthie, who spent four years in the street
crime and drug section of the department.

As the use of meth rises, Saanich police are hoping to raise awareness about
the real dangers of the highly addictive drug before too many people succumb
to its seductive qualities.

It's really no surprise to see meth and its sibling crystal meth push their
way to a larger market share. The chemical concoction stormed its way
through much of the United States and is one of the most talked about drugs
around the world.

"The way that the Saanich police are looking at this is we look at our
neighbours to the south, where they've been dealing with this for more than
a decade and it's become an epidemic there," says Duthie.

On the Olympic Peninsula in Washington State, police officers were thrown a
curve ball when the drug first hit the scene more than a decade ago.

"We're talking 10 to 15 years ago and it was kind of a surprise for us,"
says Capt. Ron Cameron, who works in drug enforcement for the Clallam County
Sheriff's Department. "All of a sudden, when you were trying to buy cocaine,
they would push this stuff - and it was cheap!"

Police noticed the switch from cocaine to meth around the Port Angeles area
in the mid-1990s. With it came the side effects that make even the most
outspoken advocates of drug use warn about the consequences of trying meth
(just try and find anyone on the Internet who has something positive to say
about the drug).

Whether meth is more addictive than crack cocaine is up for debate.

"It's sure more devastating," says Cameron. "You see the physical changes
much quicker."

In Saanich, Duthie says he's gotten to know a number of addicts who suffered
years of physical damage from using meth.

"I've talked to people here who were as young as 13 and were addicted to
crystal meth and they've recovered and now they're 16 or 17 years old," says
Duthie.

"When people see how it affects their friends, see what effect it has on
their families, a lot of times that's when they make the decision to make a
change in their lives."

More than three decades ago, a form of methamphetamine known as speed was
popular with bikers and truckers who needed to stay awake for long periods.
As the drug tore through that generation of users, the slogan "speed kills"
was used to raise awareness about the devastating qualities of meth.

Eventually, the drug all but disappeared until resurfacing in its new, more
destructive form.

In Clallam County, police now find two main types of meth. There's a
powdered form as well as a type resembling off-white shards of plastic known
as crystal meth.

"The intelligence I see about that is the powder meth is locally
(produced)," says Cameron, adding that the crystal meth is typically brought
up the Interstate Highway from Southern California.

On the Island, the drug is thought to come over from the Lower Mainland. The
last meth lab discovered in Saanich was a large one found in a rental house
on Cordova Bay Road in 1999.

However, as the drug captures a larger market share here, police say it's
only a matter of time before they starting finding labs on the Island.

"I wouldn't say it's not being made here. I think we're still at the infancy
of the production of meth," says Duthie, listing off the number of busts
reported by Greater Vancouver cops.

In the City of Vancouver, police raided half a dozen labs last year while
the RCMP investigated 29 production facilities around the Lower Mainland.

Each time, extreme precautions are necessary because of the hazardous
chemicals used to manufacture meth.

Labs are known to explode, which is a common way for police to discover them
in the first place.

The ingredients required for making meth reads like a list of cleaning
supplies at a factory. Things like lye, acetone and phosphorous are "cooked"
with ephedrine - all of which are readily available from hardware stores and
pharmacies.

"That's one of the big problems with methamphetamine, you don't have to
import anything into Canada," says Duthie.

To try and combat meth production, Saanich police are working with area
businesses that sell ingredients sought by meth makers, known as "cooks."

Police are also speaking to elementary school students in an effort to reach
the kids before the meth dealers do.

"That is a key age," says Duthie, about talking with kids in Grade 7.
"Before they've ever seen the drug they'll have an understanding of what it
is."

Without the early education, Duthie says many kids hear about meth from
other kids who talk about how the drug makes them feel and not about its
ingredients or the consequences of addiction.

While initial use provides a sense of euphoria and energy, the body builds
up a tolerance and requires more of the drug to achieve the same effect.

Meth diminishes the need to sleep or eat so users tend to stay up for
several days.

But once a user's body crashes, he or she will often sleep for days. Because
of the weight loss that comes with not eating, the drug has appeal to girls
who worry about their appearance. Ironically, crystal meth eventually makes
users look gaunt and unhealthy.

They also develop sores from compulsively picking at their skin.

The increased energy means anyone under the influence is unlikely to be
sitting still. And while this effect has led some university students to
employ meth for all-night study sessions, Duthie notes that the ability to
actually learn is impaired.

"You can maybe read a book twice as fast but you're not retaining anything."

Prolonged use of meth makes it difficult to hold a job, which has led to an
increase in crime as addicts turn to theft or even robbery.

Duthie notes users also can become irrationally violent when under the
influence, often attracting the attention of police.

"The more we see it on the street the more we can expect to see crime," he
says. "If a young person gets addicted to this drug it's going to consume
their life."