METH LABS, ABUSE DEVASTATE USERS

The most shocking item pulled from RCMP Const. Beth Blackburn's folder
is a series of 10 mugshots showing the physical deterioration of a
methamphetamine drug user.

Just under 30 years old in the first photo, the almost-pretty blond
woman's face becomes increasingly lined, gaunt and shrunken until, in
the final photograph, taken just before her death nine years later,
her skeletal face is that of an old woman - not someone still under
40.

"We have a huge meth problem in Nanaimo," says Blackburn, who runs
that city's drug awareness program, and who travelled to Salt Spring
recently to talk about clandestine drug-making labs and the alarming
increase in methamphetamine abuse on Vancouver Island.

And although the drug hasn't made major inroads to Salt Spring, local
police say it may only be a matter of time.

"We're not seeing it in the schools," says Salt Spring RCMP Const.
Lindsay Ellis, "but we have no doubt that it's been here, and it may
become a problem."

While drug abuse has been a societal concern for decades, the
increasing popularity of methamphetamine is alarming because it's
cheap, easy to produce and highly addictive with devastating health
consequences.

Furthermore, chemicals used to make "meth" are both toxic and
flammable - posing a threat to anyone who lives near a lab - and the
byproducts are environmentally detrimental.

"This stuff is so bad, I can't even make up what's going on," says
Blackburn.

Methamphetamine is a dangerous stimulant that is quickly spreading
into mainstream drug culture, replacing other more expensive drugs
such as crack cocaine.

RCMP material indicates that in some provinces meth use has increased
1,000 per cent since 1998.

Blackburn says 15 is the average age for first-time use, with some
kids taking it for weight loss and quickly becoming addicted. Others
become dependent on it by unwittingly taking ecstacy (another popular
drug that combines methylenedioxy and methylamphetamine) tablets laced
with meth.

"It gives you boundless energy and you don't feel like eating,"
Blackburn says. "Then you crash and burn and sleep for three days . .
. . You're getting no rest and no nutrition; you're stressing the
heart, lungs and nervous system."

At about half the price - $10 to $15 for one-tenth of a gram - meth is
cheaper than crack cocaine and lasts days rather than hours.

And, unlike other drugs where the main ingredients may come from
foreign countries, "this stuff is all synthetic: everything you need
to make it comes from the hardware store."

Methamphetamine is also known as "speed" or "crystal" when it is
swallowed or sniffed, as "crank" when it is injected; and as "ice" or
"glass" when smoked.

A meth-induced high artificially boosts self-confidence, and many
users are overcome by a so-called "superman syndrome" where they
ignore physical limitations and attempt activities they are otherwise
incapable of doing.

"Meth is highly addictive because continuous use is the only way to
avoid the unpleasant and inevitable crash that comes when the drug
begins to wear off," states RCMP material.

The drug causes long-lasting and debilitating effects, including
mental confusion, severe anxiety, mood swings, paranoia and
aggressiveness. Hypothermia and convulsions can lead to coma and death.

And aside from health issues related to the drug, Blackburn says,
clandestine ("clan") labs used to make methamphetamine can be deadly
to nearby neighbourhoods. For example, a recent clan lab bust in
Alberta, notes RCMP material, found enough ether to "level six city
blocks."

Reactions of chemicals used to make meth produce hydrogen cyanide or
hydrogen sulfide, both of which can kill anyone in the vicinity.

"Many of the materials are explosive and these are not rocket
scientists making the stuff," notes Blackburn. "These are guys who
have fried their brains handling all these toxic chemicals."

Firefighters need to be educated in how to deal with meth labs
(putting water on the chemicals only enflames them), and
neighbourhoods need to be alert to clan lab indicators. (See separate
story.)

"It's awful," says Blackburn. "It's something unlike we've ever seen."

Training was given locally to fire and ambulance crews earlier this
year, although local police have countered rumours that a meth lab is
operating on Salt Spring.

Ellis told the Driftwood that island RCMP have received no information
suggesting the presence of a meth lab on Salt Spring, despite
reference to "rumours of a crystal meth lab" contained in a
community-wide e-mail last week.

But with the meth problem spreading throughout Vancouver Island,
locals need to be on the alert for it here.

Blackburn says several methamphetamine-making labs have been uncovered
in the south end of Vancouver Island, and two in Nanaimo in the past
year. In the meantime, Blackburn says, education is the key to
steering youngsters away from methamphetamine abuse.

Programs such as DARE, which is taught in the Gulf Islands School
District, aim to help youth build self-esteem and find ways to say
"no" to drugs while still "saving face."

"The kids get to a gate," says Blackburn, using a metaphor to describe
the introduction of drugs into youngsters' live. "The gate may still
be closed, but it will open. The important thing is for them to have
the skills and knowledge to know which road to choose when it does
open up to them."

Adults also need to be educated, she adds. People should understand
that the purity and strength of street drugs have increased
dramatically over the past few decades.

For example, the THC level in pot used to be one to three per cent.
Now - with new cultivation methods, including advanced hydroponics -
the THC level typically sits between 15 and 20 per cent.

"It's not the same drug," she says. "And the related health problems
just snowball."

On Salt Spring, according to Ellis, the drug of choice among youth
remains alcohol, with up to 90 per cent of teens drinking to some
extent, starting as young as grades 7-8. Pot is the number two choice.

A very small percentage - maybe one to two per cent - is doing the
harder stuff, says Ellis, and a small group of people, mostly in the
20- to 50-year range, are crack users.

Blackburn says she has learned a lot about drug abuse by talking with
users and taking that information into the schools.

And youths who see her "meth woman" mugshots will likely think twice
about heading down that road.