methadone-detoxification

MADNESS TO THE METH HEADS

There's something new on the drug scene.  You don't smoke it, drink it or snort it but Saanich police are hoping it reaches as many people as possible.  It's called awareness and it's aimed at helping young people and their parents make informed choices about their lives.

A number of illegal drugs have always been ubiquitous on the street.  In Saanich, marijuana is the substance most often seized by police.  Cocaine has long been the second most common drug, though that could change as methamphetamine crowds coke off the scene.

"Just in my experience, there's been a big increase in methamphetamine," says Saanich police Const.  Dean Duthie, who spent four years in the street crime and drug section of the department.

As the use of meth rises, Saanich police are hoping to raise awareness about the real dangers of the highly addictive drug before too many people succumb to its seductive qualities.

It's really no surprise to see meth and its sibling crystal meth push their way to a larger market share.  The chemical concoction stormed its way through much of the United States and is one of the most talked about drugs around the world.

"The way that the Saanich police are looking at this is we look at our neighbours to the south, where they've been dealing with this for more than a decade and it's become an epidemic there," says Duthie.

On the Olympic Peninsula in Washington State, police officers were thrown a curve ball when the drug first hit the scene more than a decade ago.

"We're talking 10 to 15 years ago and it was kind of a surprise for us," says Capt.  Ron Cameron, who works in drug enforcement for the Clallam County Sheriff's Department.  "All of a sudden, when you were trying to buy cocaine, they would push this stuff - and it was cheap!"

Police noticed the switch from cocaine to meth around the Port Angeles area in the mid-1990s.  With it came the side effects that make even the most outspoken advocates of drug use warn about the consequences of trying meth ( just try and find anyone on the Internet who has something positive to say about the drug ).

Whether meth is more addictive than crack cocaine is up for debate.

"It's sure more devastating," says Cameron.  "You see the physical changes much quicker."

In Saanich, Duthie says he's gotten to know a number of addicts who suffered years of physical damage from using meth.

"I've talked to people here who were as young as 13 and were addicted to crystal meth and they've recovered and now they're 16 or 17 years old," says Duthie.

"When people see how it affects their friends, see what effect it has on their families, a lot of times that's when they make the decision to make a change in their lives."

More than three decades ago, a form of methamphetamine known as speed was popular with bikers and truckers who needed to stay awake for long periods.  As the drug tore through that generation of users, the slogan "speed kills" was used to raise awareness about the devastating qualities of meth.

Eventually, the drug all but disappeared until resurfacing in its new, more destructive form.

In Clallam County, police now find two main types of meth.  There's a powdered form as well as a type resembling off-white shards of plastic known as crystal meth.

"The intelligence I see about that is the powder meth is locally ( produced )," says Cameron, adding that the crystal meth is typically brought up the Interstate Highway from Southern California.

On the Island, the drug is thought to come over from the Lower Mainland.  The last meth lab discovered in Saanich was a large one found in a rental house on Cordova Bay Road in 1999.

However, as the drug captures a larger market share here, police say it's only a matter of time before they starting finding labs on the Island.

"I wouldn't say it's not being made here.  I think we're still at the infancy of the production of meth," says Duthie, listing off the number of busts reported by Greater Vancouver cops.

In the City of Vancouver, police raided half a dozen labs last year while the RCMP investigated 29 production facilities around the Lower Mainland.

Each time, extreme precautions are necessary because of the hazardous chemicals used to manufacture meth.

Labs are known to explode, which is a common way for police to discover them in the first place.

The ingredients required for making meth reads like a list of cleaning supplies at a factory.  Things like lye, acetone and phosphorous are "cooked" with ephedrine - all of which are readily available from hardware stores and pharmacies.

"That's one of the big problems with methamphetamine, you don't have to import anything into Canada," says Duthie.

To try and combat meth production, Saanich police are working with area businesses that sell ingredients sought by meth makers, known as "cooks."

Police are also speaking to elementary school students in an effort to reach the kids before the meth dealers do.

"That is a key age," says Duthie, about talking with kids in Grade 7.  "Before they've ever seen the drug they'll have an understanding of what it is."

Without the early education, Duthie says many kids hear about meth from other kids who talk about how the drug makes them feel and not about its ingredients or the consequences of addiction.

While initial use provides a sense of euphoria and energy, the body builds up a tolerance and requires more of the drug to achieve the same effect.

Meth diminishes the need to sleep or eat so users tend to stay up for several days.

But once a user's body crashes, he or she will often sleep for days.  Because of the weight loss that comes with not eating, the drug has appeal to girls who worry about their appearance.  Ironically, crystal meth eventually makes users look gaunt and unhealthy.

They also develop sores from compulsively picking at their skin.

The increased energy means anyone under the influence is unlikely to be sitting still.  And while this effect has led some university students to employ meth for all-night study sessions, Duthie notes that the ability to actually learn is impaired.

"You can maybe read a book twice as fast but you're not retaining anything."

Prolonged use of meth makes it difficult to hold a job, which has led to an increase in crime as addicts turn to theft or even robbery.

Duthie notes users also can become irrationally violent when under the influence, often attracting the attention of police.

"The more we see it on the street the more we can expect to see crime," he says.  "If a young person gets addicted to this drug it's going to consume their life."