POT OF MENACE

Dealers Getting Kids Hooked On Meth By Lacing Marijuana

Drug dealers are getting kids hooked on methamphetamine - and helping other
young addicts hide their habit - by lacing joints with the highly addictive
drug, warn police and concerned youth counsellors.

Marilyn Mitchell, manager of youth services for the Alberta Alcohol and
Drug Abuse Commission (AADAC), said several kids in rehab programs have
told counsellors they became addicted to meth after buying what they
thought was pot.

"Kids may be buying a joint thinking they are getting just a joint, but
it's laced," said Mitchell.

"Dealers are hooking kids that way and that's something we need to be
concerned about."

Edmonton drug cop Pete Cherniawsky said no joints seized by cops have
tested positive for methamphetamine, according to Health Canada. But he's
convinced it's not an "urban myth," despite similar stories showing up in
the U.S. without any supporting evidence.

"We've heard stories about cocaine-laced pot before and a lot of times it's
some kind of fertilizer, some kind of chemical, or just dealers ripping off
the customer with a false claim," said Cherniawsky.

"But is pot being laced with meth? Yes, Maybe not to the extent we're
hearing about it, but it's happening."

Edmonton Police Service detective Darcy Strang said public apathy regarding
marijuana means smoking pot soaked in liquid meth doesn't attract the
attention of cops, the general public or unsuspecting users.

"Today's society is not too concerned with the smoking of pot, so it's
easier to get the kids to smoke it in that form," said Strang, who added
many kids fear being caught with a meth pipe.

"It may also be a way to get kids hooked. Smoke it once or twice and you
become addicted."

Strang said reports from street contacts leave him in no doubt that mixing
is becoming more common in Edmonton.

"I believe it's out there," said Strang.

"If (police) seize marijuana, we would have to have the presence of mind to
test it, instead of just looking at it and thinking it's marijuana. We
could be seizing it and not realize that it is soaked with methamphetamine."

Strang said the widespread availability of methamphetamine - particularly
through local small-scale labs - means it's not too difficult to produce
meth-saturated marijuana.

"To make it you are going to have to have a meth oil product and then soak
the marijuana in it," he said. "It's not something where you are just
rolling up."

Debby Ritson-Bennett, whose son became hooked on meth at the age of 13,
said she's disgusted by the idea of dealers using laced pot to get kids
hooked to meth.

"I've heard stories about dealers grinding it up into (pot) and it makes me
sick," she said. "The older kids sell it - it's everywhere. It's going to
kids as young as 11 or 12. If it was any younger, God help us."

Mitchell said she's seen an increase in the number of kids hooked on meth
but most are 16 or 17.

"There are some 15-year-olds and a very odd, minority, who are 14," she said.

"But (lacing) is something we need to be concerned about in the future, for
sure."