Pubdate: Tue, 19 Dec 00
Source: Drayton Valley Western Review (CN AB)
Copyright: 2000 Bowes Publishers Limited
Contact:  Box 6960 Drayton Valley, AB T7A 1S3
Fax: (780)542-9200
Website: http://www.bowesnet.com/draytonvalley/
Author: Mark Mellott
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine)

SPEED A GROWING PROBLEM IN DRAYTON VALLEY

Methamphetamine Use Locally Higher Than Other Communities

Speed is picking up momentum and putting many young people on the fast
track to ruin.

Drayton Valley has a drug problem, in particular it is the increasing
popularity of methamphetamine, also known as speed. At Drayton Valley
town council last Wednesday Const. Mark Harrison of the Drayton Valley
RCMP told council that the problem is not one borne out of myth or
paranoia, but through observation.

"When I say this community has a drug problem... it's something the
people at this detachment, through discussions with other communities
and with talking to people addicted to, know it is a problem," he said.

The attraction of the drug for young people is that it's cheap,
readily available with a high lasting between eight to 12 hours. And
while the drug is easier to get than alcohol and doesn't come with a
hangover, it is highly addictive.

"It's just as addictive, or more, as crack cocaine or heroine,"
Harrison said.

The addiction is a progression, with more speed required to produce
the same high as that first experience. Initially, users will start
off smoking the drug, but eventually someone addicted to
methamphetamine can progress to injecting it to experience the same
high. The proof of the problem can be found behind downtown hotels
where syringes lay discarded, Harrison said.

"This isn't just downtown Vancouver or downtown Edmonton, this is
happening in your community," he said.

Increased demand is not a problem, with dealers making as many trips
as required to Edmonton where the main supplier is the Hell's Angels.

An $800 investment for a half ounce of speed can be broken up into 100
mg units and sold locally in a couple of days for a tidy $2,000 profit.

"They're constantly going to Edmonton to buy it and bring it back to
Drayton Valley," Harrison said. "They're taking a lot of money out of
this community."

Stemming the flow of methamphetamine into Drayton Valley will take
more than just law enforcement. The drug is easy to make and the
chemicals required in the manufacturing process are not controlled,
Harrison said.

In the United States large purchases of the required chemicals are red
flagged and law enforcement is alerted. In Canada that is not the case.

Harrison said governments - federal, provincial and municipal - have
to take a proactive approach to tackling the growing methamphetamine
problem. One step would be to have the chemicals required to
manufacture methamphetamine designated as controlled.

"As a council you can voice your opinion if you wish... and having
these chemicals designated as controlled would help," he said.

Mayor Moe Hamdon said the previous meetings he has attended to discuss
the community's drug problem and the discussion at the council meeting
have been an educational experience. It is the open discussion and
education that are the key elements in getting all levels of
government, law enforcement and aid groups working on the same common
goal.

"You can never have enough discussion and education... if we have a
hope of eliminating this problem," he said. 
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake