CRYSTAL METH MAKING ITS MARK ON CITY STREETS

Paint thinner, gas-line antifreeze, hydrochloric acid, diet pills, Drano,
ammonia, and battery acid.

It sounds like the shopping list from hell, but in fact it's just a
sampling of the ingredients used in brewing one of the most potent - and
popular - drugs on the streets today: Crystal meth.

A newcomer to the Grande Prairie drug scene, meth is well on its way to
becoming one of the most prevalent street drugs here, supplanting more
traditional artificial highs and becoming one of the hits of choice.

"It's becoming large... It is becoming just as prevalent as cocaine is,"
says Const. Shane Ramteemal of the Grand Prairie RCMP's drug section.

Cocaine has been around for decades, he says, but now shares about equal
business with the relative newcomer.

That fact was well illustrated earlier this month when a task force of
local Mounties, assisted by Edmonton Police Services and Edmonton RCMP
wrapped up a one-month undercover sting of local drug dealers. More than 30
alleged dealers were arrested, most of them for selling cocaine, meth, or both.

At the Northern Addictions Centre, area supervisor Barb Robbins says
methamphetamine use was all but unheard of only a few years ago. Now it's a
close third behind marijuana and cocaine in the number of reported cases of
illegal drug use, and gaining ground fast.

"We're hearing quite a bit about that substance this year... it wasn't
something people would report at all two years ago," said Robbins.

Whether the drug falls off in popularity, or continues its swift rise is
something she's keeping a watchful eye on.

"We're also anxious to see if this is a blip on the screen."

Although there hasn't been a bust of a meth-producing lab in the Grande
Prairie area before, Staff Sgt. Doug Carruthers, head of the Edmonton
RCMP's drug section, thinks it's not a matter of if a lab is found here,
but when.

"I would suggest you guys have a problem up there. I would say meth is
readily available there," he said. "If it's there in a small form now, it's
not going to take long to get larger.

"Organized crime has suppliers up there."

Crystal methamphetamine - also known as crank, ice, speed or jib - is a
potent chemical cocktail, brewed by amateur chemists in underground labs
that are cropping up with alarming frequency in places as nearby as Edmonton.

An addict on a meth binge is granted almost superhuman energy, often going
without sleep for a week or more. But the dizzying high is accompanied by a
catastrophic low, and users sometimes end up sleeping for several days
straight.

All of the chemicals used in making crystal methamphetamines are legal to
purchase over-the-counter in Canada, and the recipe is readily available
online.

At the busiest hub of meth use and creation in Alberta, Edmonton, Mounties
have busted lab after lab producing the drug. Late last month a warehouse
was found in that city which housed an operation capable of cranking out
almost $1 million worth of meth daily.

The process of distilling the toxic household chemicals into the
crystalized drug produces about five pounds of hazardous waste chemicals
for every pound of actual meth. In many cases, that waste is simply dumped
down a convenient drain, says Carruthers.

The availability of meth can be an obstacle to busting traffickers. It can
be brewed almost anywhere - mobile labs towed by tractor trailers have been
found - and it's tough to nail down exactly where it flows into the city
from, says Ramteemal.

"It comes from everywhere. We know it comes from Edmonton, we know it comes
from Vancouver."

That ease of production also makes the drug a cheap alternative to other
narcotics, including coke.

A single hit of crank, about 0.1 of a gram, only costs between $10 and $20
on Grande Prairie's streets.

It also gives a more potent high than cocaine, says Carruthers, lasts
longer, and has a greater chance of hooking someone their first time trying it.

That availability and potency worries people like Carol Crerar, an
addictions counsellor for AADAC specializing in youths. Although crystal
meth is still used mostly by people over 18 years, it's starting to get a
toehold in the primary schools as well.

"We're seeing it in younger kids," says Crerar, in some cases kids as young
as junior high school age have reported using it.

"Kids know how to find that stuff and the percentage that want to find it,
will.

"If it is easy to access and not the most expensive drug around, what is
that going to mean?"