ARE YOUR KIDS ON CRANK?

Poets muse that the eyes are the window to the soul.

But those baby blues - or browns or greens - will also prove the telltale
sign of someone using methamphetamine, commonly known as crystal meth,
crank, speed, ice or glass.

"Look at the eyes," said RCMP toxicologist Wayne Jeffery, during a panel
discussion of the drug held Wednesday at the West Richmond Community Centre.

"(Crystal meth) is a stimulant. The pupils are dilated the size of a
quarter for 18 hours."

And there are other physical symptoms of a meth user.

They can't sit down for longer than a couple of minutes. Once they start
talking, they won't be able to stop. They're hyperactive. They have tremors
in their fingers, in their legs.

They perspire a lot, giving off a foul body odour.

"These drugs ... smell like rotten fish," said Wayne.

Longtime users will inevitably be thin, he added.

"(Users) don't eat. They don't want to eat. They don't have to eat."

And then there is the psychological change.

"They'll feel stronger, have increased confidence, increased sexual
feeling," Wayne said. "But, guess what, this drug tricks you into thinking
'I'm in control' when you are out of control. You don't realize this."

Psychosis is common. So, too, are the startling levels of violence and
paranoia. Thoughts of suicide and even murder are common.

Deborah Sullivan, another member of Wednesday's panel, lost her two sons -
both heavy meth users at one time - to jail after they began carrying
weapons thinking people were "out to get them."

Fortunately, they never used the weapons. Still, added Sullivan, "It was
very scary."

Parents, it seems, have every right to be afraid.

Crystal meth is fast becoming the drug of choice for many looking for a
cheap and easy high.

This tiny drug - which comes in all kinds of forms, from tablets and
crystals that can be popped or smoked to powders that can be snorted -
packs a punch.

A point of crystal meth will only cost you about $10, but it'll make you
feel like a million bucks for longer than any other illegal drug. Panel
participant Const. Jazz Gill of the Richmond RCMP said this province is
bracing for a boom in meth labs over the next year. Police took down 40
illegal labs set up in homes, apartments and even vehicles in 2003. This
year, "We're anticipating that number to double."

As for Richmond, he said, "We're seeing a steady increase of users."

Crime, of course, goes hand in hand with drug addiction, translating
locally, said Gill, to reports of purse snatching, assault, car theft and
break and enters.

"These are just a few of the crimes we're seeing committed by steady users."

The social costs of drug addiction are harder to measure, and even harder
to see sometimes.

One woman spoke of the frustration of trying to deal with her addicted
14-year-old daughter.

"You very, very quickly find out there are no services out there. You have
no powers as a parent," she said.