JACKSON LOOKING AT METH BYLAW IN DELTA

Delta is preparing for a small invasion of methadone dispensaries from
Surrey, as pharmacists seek to avoid the growing cost of business east of
Scott Rd.

Last November, Surrey jacked up the business licence fees for methadone
dispensaries from $195 annually to $10,000 per year. A number of city
officials consider the storefronts, which exist primarily to dispense
methadone, to be a blight on the community.

Delta Mayor Lois Jackson has been told that a North Surrey methadone
pharmacy wants to move to her city. She knew it was a strong possibility,
given the Surrey's position on methadone dispensaries, and now she has
concerns similar to those in Surrey.

"We are concerned that we will have ... a wholesaling area basically just
for methadone," Jackson said last week.

She's watching to see what Surrey does with its planned bylaw, and says she
may ask her council to enact matching legislation. "If Surrey is going to
be controlling these circumstances, we have to do it too, or we're going to
have a bleed-out in Delta like you wouldn't believe," Jackson said. "We're
not going there..."