SPECIAL TREATMENT NEEDED TO TACKLE DRUG ADDICTION

PROGRESS -- The Walter A. "Slim" Thorpe Treatment Centre in Lloydminster is
looking at changing its detoxification program to address crack cocaine and
methamphetamine (also known as crystal meth) addiction which is becoming a
problem in Saskatchewan.

The number of people seeking help for crystal meth and crack addiction is
going up and while it has yet to reach crisis proportions, it is an
emerging concern in Meadow Lake, particularly among young people who are
targets of the inexpensive, easily manufactured and extremely dangerous
drug, crystal meth.

So far, usage and availability in the community has been sporadic,
according to Staff Sergeant Berube of the Meadow Lake RCMP and Dorothy
Lockwood of the Robert Simard Addictions Centre.

"We have had people acknowledge that they've tried the drug," says Lockwood
but there was no rush on the centre's addiction services.

However, she notes that it is a drug very focused on the youth population,
a demographic that does not readily access addictions services.

Crack and cocaine abuse remain a prevalent concern in Meadow Lake.

Nevertheless, if trends around the province and across the country are any
indications, crystal meth usage may soon become an issue for addictions
services, law enforcement and young people.

Crystal meth is made by "cooking" methamphetamine or speed with household
chemicals like ammonia, paint thinner or even draino in home-made labs
which are usually discovered only when they go up in flames.

A new, more potent and one of the most dangerous forms that has been
appearing throughout the province over the past year is made with anhydrus
ammonia, a chemical used as fertilizer in farming operations.

Crystal meth is extremely addictive, as much as, if not more so than crack
cocaine and can cause permanent brain damage with heavy usage.

Long term, irreversible mental illness with symptoms similar to
schizophrenia have been documented in rehabilitated addicts, with
depression and violence being common side effects of withdrawal.

The drug's addictiveness and problems it creates for the mental well-being
of users make crystal meth addiction very difficult to treat using
traditional detox programs.