CONFISCATED DRUGS ARE DESTROYED BY POLICE

With the New's front-page picture of the drugs seized by police on Dec. 15,
some people may wonder what the police do with all the drugs they confiscate.

Simply, they incinerate them, says Medicine Hat Police spokesperson Sgt.
Randy Youngman.

However, Youngman says the decision on when the seized drugs are destroyed
is not a call the service can make.

"Once all avenues of appeal expire, once everything finishes in court, then
the drugs are destroyed," he explains.

Youngman says drugs are burned at a secret location. He explains all drugs
seized are kept at the Medicine Hat Police Service building and are locked
up in a room within a room.

"It's tightly secured," he says. "Even officers involved in the case must
go through security clearances."

According to Youngman, the room in the service where the drugs are kept is
packed with the illegal stash and when someone walks by it the strong aroma
of certain drugs can attack the senses.

On Dec. 15, the service seized 46 ounces of cocaine, 25 pounds of marijuana
and 4, 200 tablets of ecstasy at what police estimate as being worth about
$316,000 on the street.

These drugs are now part of the police's massive evidence collection.

Youngman says that usually within a year when the court proceeding options
are exhausted, the service is given the go ahead to destroy the drugs.