TASK FORCE IS BATTLING METH IN PERTH COUNTY

Perth County -- the "meth capital" of Southwestern Ontario -- is
battling the bad rap with a variety of new initiatives financed by
the province.

And a task force is still looking for ideas to curb the problem
that's plagued the county.

"I'm not naive enough to think we're going to eradicate the problem,"
said Stratford Mayor Dan Mathieson, co-chair of the task force.

"We are having some good success, but the problem won't ever be gone
completely."

Half of a $1-million provincial grant has already been used to
finance a variety of new programs and the task force is looking to
spend the balance in the new year.

The money arrived in 2005 after 12 of 19 methamphetamine labs raided
by police in the region were found in Perth.

The province decided the task force would oversee a pilot project to
evaluate different approaches to curb the problem.

"We wanted to be in the forefront by trying to deal with the issue
and be proactive," said Mathieson.

"Along the way we've seen a drop in the number of busts, possession
and trafficking charges and the petty crimes committed by addicts
have also gone down."

New programs are in place, such as peer mentoring at schools,
community centres and the courts.

For instance, a restorative-justice program sees those convicted of
related offences given an opportunity to go through assessment and
rehabilitation programs and their success taken into consideration
when sentenced.

Applications for the last round of program proposals close Feb. 1 and
should be forwarded to the Perth District Health Unit.

The task force, with 35 to 40 members, includes representatives from
police, health care, social agencies, school boards, the Crown
Attorney's office and drug experts, such as counsellors.

They will evaluate the programs and prepare a final report for the
province by March 2009.

The proliferation of methamphetamine across rural North America has
caused concern among law enforcement agencies.

Although it's been around since the 1970s, it has become more common
mostly due to easy access to recipes found on the internet.

The key ingredient is ephedrine or pseudoephedrine, a stimulant
related to the amphetamine family. Other ingredients are used to
alter that one ingredient, which is found in cough medicine and some
common drugs.