HAWES VOWS TO BATTLE CRYSTAL METH

It's time to take action where crystal methamphetamine is concerned.

That's the message MLA Randy Hawes [Maple Ridge-Mission] wants to get to
the general public, as well as provincial and federal law officials.

"This is the killer drug," Hawes said of crystal meth. "It's a substantive
problem in Mission, it's in Abbotsford, it's spreading throughout the
province."

Not only is the drug inexpensive and accessible, said Hawes, but the
makeshift laboratories set up by the people who manufacture the drug are
dangerous because of the explosive quality of the chemicals used to create
the drug.

Hawes is getting a petition going around Mission, Abbotsford and other B.C.
communities, a petition he wants to send to B.C. Attorney General Geoff
Plant and his federal counterpart, Canadian Attorney General Irwin Cotler.

"I want to see some mandatory sentences for the people who manufacture and
distribute crystal meth," said Hawes. "My objective is to have 100,000
signatures on the petition or more."

Hawes is also one of the people behind a forum that is being planned for
September or October in Mission, a forum designed to inform and educate the
public about the drug and gather feedback about the possibility of a local
crystal meth task force, similar to one recently started up in Maple Ridge.

Steve Sharpe, president of Fraser House Society in Mission, said making
youth and adults aware of crystal meth and its dangers is key.

"I think a strategy for crystal meth is needed in every community in North
America," he said. "[Fraser House] statistics show the use of crystal meth
is up by 15 to 20 per cent in the last year in Mission."

Fraser House is an outpatient clinic in Mission where people with substance
abuse problems and their relatives can go for help and counselling. Sharpe
said the problem of crystal meth struck home for him when he saw a
13-year-old girl at Fraser House who has been using crystal meth for a
year. It is suspected she already has brain damage.

"Brain damage doesn't go away," said Sharpe. "Crystal meth is a very
dangerous, but it's cheap and use is on the rise in every community. It
makes you feel 10 feet tall and bulletproof."

A common expression going around, according to both Hawes and Sharpe, is
that the province is going to lose - or has already lost - an entire
generation of kids to crystal meth. "It all starts with prevention," said
Sharpe. "The more people we get involved the better."

Hawes agreed.

"We cannot tolerate crystal meth. It's a killer of our kids," he said.
"Somewhere we've got to draw the line."