DIDSBURY METH LAB BUST PROVES HUGE

A meth lab discovered northwest of Airdrie last week appears to have
been one of the largest clandestine drug labs in the province,
according to RCMP.

The bust came after Didsbury RCMP responded to an unrelated matter,
which ultimately resulted in a search warrant being executed on a
rural property west of Didsbury Feb. 15. Although the occupants had
only been at the property three weeks, once on scene law enforcement
officers found a working methamphetamine lab and seized approximately
10 kilograms of the drug.

Facing several counts of drug-related charges are John Andrew Brown,
32, and Jody Roger McGuey, 29, both of Calgary.

One of the major concerns related to meth is the danger processing
labs pose to the public at large, said RCMP Cpl. Wayne Oakes, K
Division media relations officer. Chemicals used in the manufacturing
process can be lethal to those exposed and can also drastically
increase the chance of fire and explosion. For example, at the
Didsbury lab, investigators discovered more than 90 kilograms of red
phosphorus, a highly volatile substance.

"The manufacturing process is extremely hazardous," Oakes said. "We
aren't talking highly qualified lab technicians making this product."
As well as the hazards involved in the production of the drug, use of
crystal meth also has devastating results.

"The first time you use it, you're addicted," Oakes
said.

While meth users are "all over the board" in terms of demographics,
the drug often appeals to younger people, in part because of the
"empowering feeling of invincibility," Oakes said. However, he added,
there is no such thing as recreational use -- 85 per cent of
first-time users become addicted.

"This is a very, very powerful chemical," he said. "Once it gets its
hooks into you, it just won't go away.

"It does greatly reduce your life span," he added. "You don't expect
to live more than five years if you're hooked on meth."

Oakes knows of what he speaks. At his former posting in Barrhead, he
saw firsthand the effects of crystal meth use after several young
people in the community became addicted to the drug.

"It was absolutely devastating what it did to these kids," he
said.

For Oakes, one of the best methods of dealing with the crystal meth
use is to provide as much information as possible.

"Education is, by all means, the thing to do," he said.

And while there is consensus among RCMP members that methamphetamine
appears to be more of a problem in the northern part of the province
than it is in Southern Alberta, that doesn't mean that the drug is
unknown south of Red Deer.

"I'm sure they use it here (in Airdrie) and I'm sure that they do have
labs out there," Airdrie RCMP Sgt. Bruce Robertson said.