METH RESULTS RELEASED

Most in the public are aware of the growing crystal meth crisis. What
is not known is what to do about this drug with the worst combination
of attributes: easy to make, cheap to sell, simple to disguise,
highly potent and very addictive.

The Northern Health Authority's drug prevention coordinator Andrew
Burton has been at the forefront of a series of forums on the
subject. The results are back from the most recent one, a forum among
community leaders in health, education, youth services and
government. This forum, built on the information that came out of
previous meetings, was aimed at identifying solutions.

Burton said one of the biggest challenges faced in the drug
prevention cause is the old public perception that drug addicts don't
come from nice homes or nice neighbourhoods.

"Well I don't use drugs and my kids don't use drugs, so it's not my
problem," Burton parodied. "Well, yeah it is. You don't know what
your neighbours are doing, so there is that aspect." He explained of
the neighbours in one recent case study who were inhaling toxic fumes
from a crystal meth lab next door in an otherwise common-looking home.

The other fearsome aspect Burton wants people to accept is how strong
the addictive powers of crystal meth are. Drug experimentation is a
generations-old fact of teenage coming-of-age, whether parents in
"nice" homes and "nice" neighbourhoods want to admit that or not, he
explained. The alarm bells are not about alcohol's or marijuana's
availability on any schoolyard in the city, it is a brain-wasting,
mood-altering, body-crippling chemical cocktail. At candyland prices,
crystal meth makes hardcore drugs accessible to the Grade 7 budget
and mentality.

"We must change community attitudes," Burton said. "We need people to
rethink these problems and their solutions. They are not just the
problems of people in the hood, or people just using, they effect
every level of the community. Because of the cheap costs, the easy
manufacture, the aggressive effects of crystal meth, the peripheral
effects are affecting our taxes, driving up the cost of education,
healthcare, the criminal justice system, it affects how safe people
feel in their homes because the ones using are doing petty crimes to
pay for their drug use. If my daughter can't walk down the street at
night and feel safe, that has affected me and all my neighbours. We
need to do something about that."

So what's it going to be, as decided by the recent forum
participants? Burton said many of the suggestions are multifaceted
and will require much more money and partnership-building than is
currently available, but some are immediately possible like a media
campaign that targets the crystal meth issue and lobbying the proper
authorities (many of whom were represented in the room) for
front-line treatment for crystal meth sufferers. Also, government
must be made aware of and urged to deal with the compound effect of
crystal meth drug use among those with mental ill health.

Burton is already working on the public awareness campaign. He is
also establishing monthly meetings starting Dec. 6 at 7 p.m. at 1705
Third Ave for parents concerned about crystal meth. It is not a
support group, he said, but a training session to pass on techniques
for understanding behaviour and coping with troubling behaviour.

A lot of the issue, the forum participants said, starts with role
models and messages received right in the home - even "nice" homes in
"nice" neighbourhoods run by "nice" people.

"You come home from work, you've had a rough day. You have teenaged
son or daughter and you say: 'boy I had a tough one, I need a drink.'
What message did you just send your kids?," Burton explained. "I'm
not saying the person who has a drink after work has a drug problem,
but how did you just get interpreted by your kids? What happens when
your son thinks he's having a rough day? The family message is: take
a drug. Their drug of choice may not be alcohol."

Also planned is a chance for the general public to voice their views
for change. A public forum is in the works to hear possible solutions
from citizens at large.

For more information on crystal meth, call Burton at 565-6332.

[SIDEBAR]

A new program is being introduced in B.C. to more closely monitor
bulk sales of cold medications that can be used to make crystal meth.
The provincial government has announced a plan to work with
pharmacists, police and retailers to cut off a potential source of
key ingredients needed to make the deadly drug, said Prince
George-Mount Robson MLA Shirley Bond.

"In the first phase of the plan, police, pharmacists and retailers,
through coordinated programs like Meth Watch, will monitor closely
for bulk sales and theft of cold medications," she said in a prepared
statement. "If there is any evidence of misuse of retail products,
the province will restrict the sale of these products to licensed
pharmacies. If problems persist, B.C. will make these medications
available by prescription only."

She warns that in some jurisdictions, meth makers have gone so far as
to mine cough syrup and cold pills for the ingredients they need, but
research in B.C. shows this has not become a problem here, yet.

The provincial government recently announced $7-million in funding to
support community-based anti-meth programs, additional treatment
resources, and an extensive public awareness and education campaign.
According to Bond the initiative includes:

* $2-million to enhance existing treatment programs and ensure that
professional care is available for meth-addicted youth.

* $2-million for community based programs, which will provide up to
$10,000 in seed money to community groups and municipalities.

* $1-million for a school-based crystal meth awareness campaign.

* An additional $2-million for a broad-based public education
campaign, to ensure that youth and their parents are aware of the
facts about meth use and addiction.

* B.C.'s crystal meth strategy is coordinated by a new secretariat
operating within the Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General.