METH NO PARTY, SAYS JUDGE

Get caught simply holding methamphetamine and risk being thrown in
jail, a judge warned local residents last week.

The drug is a serious problem, and must be treated so by the courts,
Judge Marilyn White warned Fort Saskatchewan Provincial Court
Thursday, Sept. 30.

"If you choose to use a horrible drug you will go to jail, that's the
message,"White told a man convicted of possession methamphetamine.

"That's what my immediate reaction would have been had you had a
criminal record," she said. "Let's make that loud and clear."

"Methamphetamine is probably one of the worst drugs that has hit this
province," White explained. Her work as a judge has taken her to many
courtrooms in Alberta and she has seen too many methamphetamine
addicts as a result. Some she has seen are so far gone that their eyes
are sunk into the skulls, their weight has dropped to nothing, and
they are so paranoid that they can't speak without mentioning the
terrorists that are out to get them.

White did not buy the excuse that Carlos Leiva and three other young
men were just having a party. "Methamphetamine is not a party," she
said.

Police were called to investigate a vehicle parked in front of the
Fort Saskatchewan High School on May 8, 2004, court was told. There
they found four young men and various drug paraphernalia, including
pipes, some $110 in loose bills, and two packages of methamphetamine
totaling 1.2 grams. Some marijuana was also found.

Leiva admitted owning the methamphetamine.

As Leiva, age 19, had no previous criminal record, both the Crown
prosecutor and the defence lawyer requested that he be given a fine of
$1,000.

Judge White accepted the proposal, adding a $150 victim surcharge.
However, when Leiva requested four months time to pay the fine, she
refused.

"Would the drug dealer that sold him the drug have given him four
months?" she asked.