POOR MAN'S COCAINE - A COMMUNITY'S PROBLEM

The highly affordable and readily available drug known as crystal meth is
taking its toll in the Bulkley Valley.

According to a 17-year-old guest speaker at last week's crystal meth forum
here, the drug has already claimed the life of one Smithers man.

But that's not stopping kids from taking the drug, he said. Nor is his own
tale of addiction, which includes losing 30 pounds in one month and staying
awake for 13 days straight.

More than 40 different social service providers, educators, RCMP officers,
youth, parents, ambulance and fire people learned about the scary facts
about why the drug is so popular.

Meth is cheap and unlike drugs such as marijuana and cocaine - much of which
must be imported - meth is easily manufactured domestically with common
household items such as batteries, cold medicine and drain cleaner.

On meth, users can stay high for 12 hours or more, six times longer than
with many other drugs.

Forty-two per cent of first-time users report an intense desire to use
again, and 84 per cent of second-time users begin a pattern of increasing
use.

According to professionals, the initial addiction to this euphoric drug is
mostly mental, as users want to feel great again. For anyone struggling with
low self-esteem, this is a disaster equation.

Long-term effects are staggering, including sudden failure of vital organs,
heart attacks or strokes.

But it is far from just affecting the users. This will rock schools,
families, businesses, and the crime rate in general in the community, as The
Interior News reported this summer, when an onset of break-ins where
attributed to crystal meth use.

Those in desperate need for cash for their next fix will do what it takes,
so the break-and-enter problems will not disappear.

We cannot afford to lose track of the root of the problem, while focusing on
fixing the symptoms.

There needs to be more to do here for youth, and they need to know there is
help and support available.

It's necessary that we all come together to create a community-wide
response.

It's not going to be enough to educate children and to take away the market.
We need not only to deliver a message that users need to hear - we need to
be ready to listen.