INCREASING DRUG OF CHOICE

Production of crystal methamphetamine is catching up to crack cocaine as the
drug of choice in B.C. thanks to incredible profit margins for producers,
experts agreed Monday.

A meth lab busted in Kelowna in 2001 was one of the more organized and
profitable production centres seen to date, said Richard Laing, a Health
Canada expert on the drug. Laing regularly gives expert evidence in court
and aids police in the detection, safety and proper clean-up of labs.

He said for a cost of $1,000 in chemicals and equipment, an efficient meth
cook could make a kilogram of crystal meth which sells per gram at between
$80 and $200-some say $50 in Kelowna-or $80,000.

Simply looking at the materials available in the Postill Drive meth lab, he
estimated the final product could have produced $712,000 to $850,000, let
alone what could be produced in a year.

"This lab is a large lab able to produce kilogram quantities of meth. It was
designed and laid out...to mass produce over continuous production runs at
various stages," he told the court.

Profit margins might explain some of the earlier convictions related to the
case.

One accused, Russell J. Penner, pled guilty to simple possession for a
$1,000 fine but he also agreed to forfeit $85,000 in cash that was seized.

David Tarasenko pleaded guilty to a Waste Management Act charge and was
handed a $30,000 fine, $23,500 of which was earmarked directly for the City
of Kelowna.

Laing explained why that sentence was structured to benefit the city, since
many of the chemicals and gases involved in the production were pumped into
the sewer system.

Laing described the health hazards on meth cooks handling such chemicals and
said the community at large faces similar dangers. Many of the chemicals are
flammable and can explode.

"This lab was pumping fumes from reactions and extractions down into sewer
lines. The levels of toxic chemicals could affect city workers working in
sewer lines and could have backed up into someone else's toilet," he said.

"One of the more insidious parts to this is the toxic poisonous gas
produced. Phosphene gas is a highly toxic gas that will poison and can kill
at low doses, and this is going into the sewer system."