Pubdate: Wed, 29 Dec 2004 Source: Maple Ridge News (CN BC) Copyright: 2004 Maple Ridge News Contact: http://www.mapleridgenews.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1328 Author: Michael Hall Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine) METH WATCH PROGRAM STARTING IN MAPLE RIDGE Maple Ridge is the first community in Canada introduced to a new Meth Watch program. As part if it, a local task force will recruit businesses to take part, taking ingredients used to make crystal methamphetamine off shelves and putting them behind counters. The program also includes posters, stickers and brochures about the program and meth precursors, as well as an education session teaching employees how to spot and report suspicious purchases. "I don't think there's a retailer in the Lower Mainland that wants to be associated with selling products used to make meth," said Surrey fire chief Len Garis, a Pitt Meadows resident and member of the precursors committee of the Life or Meth task force in Maple Ridge The precursors committee hopes to be distributing materials to local retailers and soliciting support by the end of January. It is still awaiting funding approval from the provincial youth crime prevention program to develop materials for the precursors campaign. As part of the campaign, participating retailers would be asked to remove materials used in the production of meth from their shelves - like cold medications containing pseudophedrine or rubbing alcohol, brake cleaner, paint thinner, kerosene, ether, methanol, lithium and sulfuric acid. Retailers would also receive stickers to place on such materials. The Meth Watch program was launched by the Retail Council of Canada and its partners on Dec. 13 to curtail the theft and sale of meth precursors. It is similar to a program in place in the U.S. for the past decade. Now precursors are being purchased in Canada and transported to the U.S. to produce meth, Garis said. Maple Ridge is the first community in Canada introduced to the Meth Watch program. "It means Maple Ridge is a leader in grabbing and endorsing the Meth Watch program," said Garis, former fire chief in Pitt Meadows. The Meth or Life task force was initiated in July by Meadowridge Rotary president Mary Robson to educate youth about the dangers of crystal meth and how it is affecting the community. Meth, an addictive stimulant that affects the central nervous system, is a significant problem in Maple Ridge and around the Lower Mainland. It is directly linked to property crime, as well as auto thefts and vehicles fires, according to police and firefighters. A high percentage of people who live on local streets are addicted to or use meth. The local task force, divided into committee, included representatives from the RCMP, school board, drug and alcohol treatment services and other community groups, like the Salvation Army. They split up into three groups: education; addiction and enforcement. Each group splintered into three or four committees, all with their own mandate: to come up with a plan within 60 days to stop the use and abuse of crystal meth. The 10 committees and their 100 or so members unveiled their plans at the end of September. Besides the precursor campaign, a psychiatric nurse was added to the emergency room at Ridge Meadows Hospital in November. That same month a community outreach worker was hired to help with drug-addicted street people. The local school district recently distributed information packages about meth to parents and students with report cards . In October, former Vancouver Canucks general manager Brian Burke discussed substance misuse with students at Pitt Meadows and Garibaldi secondary schools. In November, Maple Ridge council passed a new bylaw, penalizing property owners who allowed their properties to be used for growing marijuana and making meth. The bylaw includes fines, as well as cleaning and inspection requirements. As part of the meth campaign, the RCMP drug team pledged to dedicate most of its resources try and to stop whoever is producing and distributing the drug. Police found three meth labs at the same residence on two different occasions this year. According to a coroner's report, crystal methamphetamine was a contributing factor in the death of a man found in a wooded area off the Haney Bypass in June. - --- MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin