CRYSTAL METH LAB BOTH A CRIME AND HEALTH CONCERN FOR POLICE

Never mind marijuana grow ops-police have found a more dangerous
methamphetamine cousin in Kelowna.

Kelowna RCMP and the Southeast District Drug Section busted a
methamphetamine lab on Postill Drive in the Ellison district.

Methamphetamine, also known as crystal meth, speed or ice, has become a
popular drug across North America for the past decade. It is similar to
cocaine but is created differently.

According to Cpl. J. Woodlock, a member of a provincial RCMP drug squad
specializing in meth, the cocktail of chemicals required to make the stuff
can be toxic and very volatile.

"Anytime you are dealing with organic solvents and chemicals with a heat
reaction that create those fumes you can have a fire or an explosion,"
Woodlock said.

"Some of those fumes can also affect your breathing."

Two explosions were recorded in the Lower Mainland last year. He says
police take down roughly 30 labs a year. When police find a meth lab, they
wear breathing masks, protective covering and boots, then destroy them when
finished.

They are always required to wait for a Health Canada chemical expert to
dismantle the labs as well. He said the "cooks" who make it illegally often
take no such precautions.

He said the meth lab in Ellison was substantial in its amount of chemical
and finished product-720 grams. Const. Garth Letcher said he believes this
is the first meth lab in Central Okanagan, though that doesn't necessarily
mean it's the only one.

"Anybody with the Internet and a kitchen can do it," says Woodlock. "There
are a million recipes out there."

The difficulty in controlling it, Woodlock said, is that most of the
required chemicals are quite legal when sold separately.

Another difficulty with meth labs, he said, is the environmental component.
The chemical process creates a byproduct that must be disposed of. Most
times the hazardous material ends up in city sewers, through streams or
anywhere else it can be dumped undetected.

Police have yet to make an arrest connected with the lab.