HUNDREDS IN SQUAMISH ABUSING METH, FORUM TOLD

Squamish More Proactive Than Other Towns

Squamish has a huge drug problem, says addictions counsellor Denise Evans
of Sea to Sky Community Services. She offered the opinion at the forum on
Crystal Meth at Brennan Park this week.

Evans said within the huge drug problem is a very real meth problem.
According to her, a reasonable estimate puts the number of meth users in
Squamish anywhere between 500 and 700 - a far greater number than the
approximately 275 people who attended the forum.

"There's also a huge cocaine problem," she said.

She went on to list a number of other drugs being abused by people in the
community.

"Trust me, there is a huge drug problem in Squamish," Evans said.

She was one of a number of experts at the forum Monday (Oct. 17) who
delivered dark messages about meth mixed with ideas for reducing the number
of people addicted to meth and other mind altering substances.

Evans pointed out that more help is on the way to help the community deal
with addiction issues. An application is being made for $10,000 in seed
money from the provincial government's meth reduction program and a series
of new local initiatives are nearing completion.

David Hildreth, a forum organizer and member of the Squamish Breakfast
Club, said a locally developed website on meth is almost ready for
unveiling, a 40-page resource manual for parents is almost finished and a
brochure on the dangers of meth will be on the streets soon. In addition, a
third meth forum is being planned for the spring. A meth watch program is
in development also. Hildreth said the meth watch program is aimed at
identifying the people who steal or purchase large amounts of the various
items needed for the production of meth.

According to Mayor Ian Sutherland, RCMP auxiliary members planned this week
to visit each retail pharmacy in Squamish to talk about the creation of a
community-wide program where large-scale purchases of over the counter
medications containing the key ingredients required for the production of
meth result in the store recording information about the purchaser.

All this is happening because meth is a highly addictive and very
destructive drug. One forum participant suggested meth and other drugs like
it should be classified as poisons and not drugs.

"We've never seen a drug come in and take over people like meth has," said
Roger Lake, executive director of the Washington State Narcotics
Investigators Association. "I've never seen a drug destroy a family as fast
as meth."

Lake and other experts at the forum indicated there is hope and interest in
the forum was proof of that.

"You are way ahead of the curve," said RCMP S/Sgt. Chuck Doucette of
Vancouver. "It is great to see so many people here (at the forum)."

He went on to encourage the crowd to bring the whole community together in
a united effort to drive the drug out. Sgt. Colin Worth of the Squamish
RCMP said the police took more than $10,000 worth of meth out of
circulation in a three-month period over the summer and into the fall.

He called on community members to keep being the eyes and ears of the RCMP
by calling with tips. He said lots of small tips can be pieced together to
give the RCMP enough to ask for a court warrant to search a house. Worth
said an example of a good tip that leads to immediate police action is one
where a meth producer is seen by a witness to put a meth lab into a vehicle
and then drive away. When police have a tip like that, Worth said they can
pull the vehicle over and search it.

Worth added an additional thought for driving meth out of town.

"The mayor has been pushing for a courthouse to return to our community,"
he said. "We need to support him in that because it will help."