GRANVILLE, DAVIE METH-DEALING HOTSPOTS

Crystal meth dealers have set up shop at the corner of Bute and Davie.

"They're tapping into the youth and gay community in that area," says
Vancouver Police Department Inspector Dave Jones. "The dealers aren't nice
people and what they're selling is pure poison."

Known on the street as "ice" or "crystal," the sugar-like powder is usually
sold in Ziploc baggies for under $5. And the drug is as addictive as it is
inexpensive. Meth is more addictive than cocaine and, unlike crack, which
produces a fleeting 20-minute high, crystal meth lasts between eight and 12
hours. For a user to become addicted it only takes about a month of
occasional use; odds of relapse are 93 per cent.

Once a drug whose popularity was limited to the gay community and rave
scene, meth has, in recent years, become the drug of choice for suburban
and urban street youth, making the downtown a lucrative market.

The West End has become one of the most desirable location for dealers,
along with the 1200-block area of Granville.

"They have a very specific clientele," said Jones, noting the abundance of
24-hour eateries and convenience stores.

A local business owner near Davie and Bute said Thursday meth dealers use
the payphone outside the government liquor store to run their operations.

"They make their phone calls and wait for calls and then dispatch their items."

Jones calls the dealers "predatory" because they also often lurk around
youth drop-in centres and clinics, offering kids free drugs -- only to
return later and try to sell them more.

"There's a new influx of youth on the street because of foster care
downsizing that has created a new market for these dealers to fill," Jones
explains.

Dr. Ian Martin has witnessed a growing trend among the street youth he's
treated in recent years.

"It's a huge problem. I'd say 85 per cent of the youth are using (meth),"
says Martin. "It's cheap and you don't need to eat or sleep. Kids on the
street can stay up."

Crystal meth--a methamphetamine, meaning it is a stimulant, not a
hallucinogenic--first gained popularity in the late-1960s in pill form. By
the mid '70s, the drug, which can be smoked, snorted, injected or ingested,
had virtually become extinct before making a resurgence in the United
States. Today's strain of the drug, however, is much more potent.

Crystal users often suffer from anxiety, paranoia and depression; violence
is also common. Long-term use can cause permanent psychological damage.

The drug is also characterized as a "sexual drug" and is the gay club drug
of choice because it delays ejaculation.

Meth dealers would likely cause a turf war if they began plying their trade
in the Downtown Eastside, says Jones. Dealers selling crack, which produces
a high that lasts 20 minutes and costs around $11, wouldn't want the
competition selling a drug that costs less and produces a much longer high.

Although the VPD has targeted meth dealers working Davie and Granville,
Jones admits that they're "difficult to detect" and the real solution to
the problem may be through awareness and education.

"This is a dangerous drug."