COPS FEAR METH TIDE

Say Crack Alternative Will Sweep The Country

Call it meth madness. Canadian law enforcement agencies, including the
Winnipeg Police Service, are bracing for an explosion in the use of the
illegal and highly addictive stimulant known as methamphetamine.

As use of the cheap alternative to crack cocaine reaches epidemic
proportions in the United States, police on both sides of the border say
it's only a matter of time before meth madness sweeps Canada.

"All indications are that we're right in line. We're going to have the same
problem," said Winnipeg police patrol Sgt. Mark Pruden. "Once the user
population gets hooked on it, it's going to go through the roof."

And as the demand grows, so will the supply. That means police can expect
to uncover plenty of clandestine drug labs in coming years.

Sgt. Bill Stewart, of the Winnipeg police clan lab unit, points to North
Dakota as a disturbing harbinger.

In 1996, police in North Dakota busted about three meth labs, Stewart said.
In 2002, they uncovered 98. The numbers have skyrocketed in California,
where the epidemic is said to have started. In 2002, California police
discovered 1,122 meth labs.

Since July 2000, Winnipeg cops have busted four clandestine drug labs.

The most recent occurred last month when police stormed a St. Vital
townhouse on 4-50 Chesterfield Ave., and discovered a basement lab. Two
city cops were treated for exposure to toxic chemicals but have returned to
work.

WAITING FOR LAB RESULTS

Eight people were living in the home -- including three children, who
neighbours say ranged from a toddler to an elementary school-age child. At
least two people are facing drug-producing charges. But police are waiting
for lab results before charges are laid.

Drug labs house noxious and potentially explosive substances used to cook
up illicit street drugs, including methamphetamine, ecstasy and the
date-rape drug GHB.

Most of the ingredients can be bought legally. For example, ephedrine,
which is used to make methamphetamine, can be extracted from legally
purchased over-the-counter cold medications.

The cooking process takes about three hours and can be done in a house, a
trailer, a motel room or the back of a van by anyone with limited knowledge
on the subject.

"That's what makes these labs so dangerous," Stewart said. "You've got a
lot of people, by word of mouth getting recipes, pulling recipes off the
Internet with no formal chemistry background attempting these cooks and
that's when they get sick and you have explosions."

But the lure of easy money overshadows the life-threatening risks for drug
manufacturers.

"For a $100 investment, three hours later you can be $3,000 ahead of the
game," Stewart said. "That's the way drugs are. There's money in drugs and
that's why people do it."

Three U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency officials were in Edmonton last week to
give a five-day training course to drug cops and firefighters.

Don Rothenbaum, a U.S. expert on clandestine methamphetamine labs, warned
that Canada is "in a position to have a serious problem" with meth.