Pubdate: Wed, 07 Jul 2004 Source: Edmonton Journal (CN AB) e4d-4265-936a-7f5c78e2d1b0 Copyright: 2004 The Edmonton Journal Contact: http://www.canada.com/edmonton/edmontonjournal/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/134 Author: Tom Barrett DRUGGISTS TACKLE METH MAKERS Cold Remedies Moved Behind The Counter Tom Barrett The Edmonton Journal EDMONTON - Alberta pharmacists have become the first in Canada to voluntarily restrict access to over-the-counter products commonly used in illicit labs to create the volatile street drug crystal methamphetamine. After rejecting the move last year, the pharmacists decided limiting sales of cold remedies that contain ephedrine and pseudoephedrine can help in the campaign to stem the growing use of the highly addictive drug. Products that contain the drugs will now be moved behind the pharmacists' counters. Customers will be limited to 60 tablets of 60 mg at one time. "We want Albertans to know that pharmacists are concerned about their communities," said Tracy Marsden, president of the Alberta College of Pharmacists. "We have pledged to contribute to solutions to the methamphetamine problem." Consumers wanting to obtain the products for legitimate reasons will not be inconvenienced, she added. Marsden said the college cannot compel pharmacies to comply but all major companies have agreed to make the move. Many of the relevant products, which are mostly decongestants, are also available in small quantities in grocery stores that don't have pharmacies. Officials attending a news conference Tuesday where the announcement was made said the move will not stop major meth dealers from manufacturing the drug. But Solicitor General Heather Forsyth, who has been on a personal crusade to halt the spread of methamphetamines in Alberta, said the announcement must be seen as one more part of a huge campaign. "We must continue to tackle this problem from every angle in a co-ordinated and comprehensive manner," Forsyth said. Alberta has learned from American states that have been hard hit by meth use and has gotten an early start in combatting it, she added. Staff Sgt. Brad Doucette, head of the Edmonton police department's drug squad, said methamphetamine use is on the rise in the city, along with related crime. Doucette said police would like to see federal legal changes that would allow them to charge people caught with massive amounts of drugs used in the manufacture of meth. "Right now, the most we can do is seize the substances and even that can be challenged in court," he said. One mother underlined what's at stake in the battle against meth. She described how she watched helplessly as her beloved 16-year-old son dropped 40 pounds in three months. He became a violent, irrational stranger. The Edmonton-area mother and her husband were finally forced to kick their son out of their home and change the locks. "We lost our son for the most part," she says. "There's no way you can describe living in fear as a parent. Wondering every night if your son is dead or alive, if he's going to overdose that night or if he is out on the streets." He was arrested for drug possession and through the detoxification program at the Young Offender's Centre, volunteered for extensive treatment, his mother explained. The teenager was fortunate enough to be included in a pilot project that provides nine-to-12 months of intensive treatment in a residential facility. "I would say that without the intervention, he would have died," his mother said. She called on the government to establish more facilities. She also called for legal changes that would allow parents to have their drug-addicted children involuntarily committed for treatment. "Meth addicts, or I'm sure crack or cocaine addicts, when they are that young and that addicted, how can they make a voluntary decision to seek treatment?" she asked. Forsyth said the province is considering such legislation. The mother said she didn't know if restricting access to drugs used to make meth would have prevented her son from becoming an addict but praised the pharmacist's move. "We have to start somewhere," she said. "We can't just wait for federal legislation." The B.C. College of Pharmacists recently alerted members to the growing meth problem and told them to watch for people buying large amounts of the two drugs. - --- MAP posted-by: Jo-D