COPS WARN OF LACED MARIJUANA

Police say area drug dealers are using crystal methamphetamine to
spike pot and spark addictions

St. Albert's RCMP detachment is worried about a growing trend in which
drug dealers lace marijuana with crystal methamphetamine.

Const. Mike Moulds, a school liaison officer at Paul Kane and
Bellerose high schools, said by spiking pot with crystal meth, the
dealers are ensuring their clients get hooked. "The kids are thinking
they are addicted to the marijuana but what they are really getting
addicted to is the crystal meth. It is a ploy of drug dealers to make
money."

Teens and parents should be extremely concerned because 46 per cent of
people who use crystal meth the first time and 96 per cent who try it
a second time can become addicted, Moulds said. "And only 20 per cent
of the people who are addicted to that drug get off it. So if you get
hooked, the odds are against you."

For years police have been sending seized marijuana to the crime lab
to test levels of THC, its active ingredient. But it was not until
recently that the results have come back showing traces of meth,
Moulds said. The amount found is varied but even a little bit can lead
to a serious addiction and should be a concern to anyone who smokes
pot, he added. "We have lab reports that confirm this is happening. It
is not something that is being made up."

RCMP Cpl. Doug Stapleton, an investigator for the St. Albert Drug
Unit, said the issue first came to the attention of police during a
conference about a year ago. Local police have received reports from a
number of city students who have said it is also occurring in St.
Albert, but that has not been confirmed, he added.

"We know crystal meth is in the schools so it wouldn't surprise me,
but we haven't had any confirmed cases here. Certainly we will start
analysing some of the smaller amounts of marijuana we get to see if it
is happening."

The new trend is especially alarming in light of a recent AADAC survey
suggesting marijuana use is overtaking cigarettes with teens. Results
show that cigarette smoking is declining in popularity with 16 per
cent of students reporting they are lighting up while more than 27 per
cent of teens said they have tried marijuana. And almost 42 per cent
of students in high school who were surveyed said they have
experimented with the drug.

Three St. Albert schools, one in the Protestant district and two with
the Catholic system, took part in the survey.

"People need to realize that just buying a small amount of pot is not
a harmless thing because it brings the criminal element into the
schools. Kids are stealing stuff from lockers and from vehicles to
hawk in order to keep their habit going."

People who buy pot are contributing to other crimes in St. Albert even
if they don't realize it, Moulds said. "That guy has to buy his pot
from somebody who is buying a lot more pot from someone else. It's a
ripple effect."

Moulds, Stapleton and Sgt. Ian Sanderson, head of the RCMP Drug
Awareness Service, will host a parent information night at Bellerose
Composite High School on Nov. 24 at 7:30 p.m. Moulds said it is
important for all St. Albert parents to attend, even if their children
are not involved with drugs. "You may be living next door to a drug
dealer and somebody who's pissed off at that guy comes around and
shoots up your house thinking it's his. That is why parents in this
community should be up in arms about this."

A St. Albert resident, whose home backs on to Bellerose Composite High
School, knows firsthand the level of drug use among local teenagers.
Karen, who did not want her real name used, has called the police on
several occasions to complain about the number of kids hanging around
outside her house, smoking marijuana. "We've been here for five years
and it's been like that for five years. At first they were just
hanging out and smoking [cigarettes] but now they are smoking up. They
are doing drugs before class, at lunch and after school - it never
stops."

On Nov. 6, Karen recorded 27 kids smoking drugs near her house
throughout the day. She took pictures, contacted the police and the
school but she said nothing has been done. "The vice principal of the
school has been out here yelling at the kids but they just come right
back. The problem keeps resurfacing."

Karen and her family have now decided to move and other neighbours are
thinking of doing the same. She blames the problem on the attitude of
people who believe smoking marijuana is no big deal. "I want the
police to spend a week here and get an idea of the scope of the
problem. I want the parents of these kids to take some responsibility
instead of trying to cover it up and pretend it's not happening - it
is."

Bellerose principal Pete Dukovac said the school is continuing to work
closely with residents to monitor the situation. When the school gets
a call from a community member it does its best to address concerns as
quickly as possible, he added. "We adhere to the drug-free protocol of
the two school jurisdictions. If students have been doing drugs and it
is obvious, we will suspend them and in some cases we have moved to
expulsion. This is something we take very seriously."