Pubdate: Fri, 30 Sep 2005
Source: Victoria Times-Colonist (CN BC)
Copyright: 2005 Times Colonist
Contact:  http://www.canada.com/victoria/timescolonist/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/481
Author: Les Leyne
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine)

BABY STEPS IN THE CRYSTAL METH FIGHT

Campbell Has Offered $7 Million To Counter The Rise Of The Street Drug

VANCOUVER - British Columbia's mayors and councillors, who are meeting here 
this week, are reasonably content with their relationship with the 
provincial government and satisfied for the most part with the progress 
their communities are making on all the usual fronts.

There's one thing that appears to scare the hell out of them, though, and 
that's crystal meth. Not everyone is fully up to speed on the horror 
spreading from the easy production and cheap consumption of the street drug.

The ones who realized the menace early on are profoundly concerned. The 
fear of crystal meth was lurking around the edges of the convention, which 
otherwise is a celebration of prosperity, revenue-sharing and co-operation 
on all manner of other issues.

Premier Gordon Campbell tried to address it in part of his speech Thursday 
to the Union of B.C. Municipalities, but it's an open question whether he 
made much headway.

If you talk to Esquimalt Coun. Ruth Layne, who's involved in the local 
society formed to fight it, he failed miserably.

She was in tears after Campbell, with some fanfare, announced the spending 
of $7 million to cope with the drug.

"I thought they got it," she said after the speech, struggling to keep 
composure. "We have five detox beds on Vancouver Island. Every single child 
that talks to an adult, they're looking for help. They 100 per cent want to 
get off this drug. They can't do it alone. They can't do it at home. $2 
million won't do it for the province," she said, referring to a portion of 
the spending meant for community programs.

"I'm glad for the province's help, but we need money today, to open up 
treatment beds right now. They've got young brains with this poison in it, 
and $2 million is not enough."

The Victoria group took Solicitor General John Les out on the streets last 
week until 1 a.m. to observe part of the crystal meth scene.

They were impressed by his personal reaction to users' plights. But the 
programs announced by the premier Thursday do sound a little paltry after 
hearing about how bad is.

Acknowledging "it demands our immediate attention," he promised $2 million 
to UBCM to fight crystal meth. It's considered seed money for individual 
community drives, up to $10,000 in each locale.

There's another $3 million for what's billed as a major public awareness 
campaign and more for targeted treatment services, all of it under the 
auspices of a new crystal meth secretariat to be run out of Les's office.

The news wasn't universally panned. B.C. already spends $1 billion on 
mental health and addiction services and came up with a crystal meth 
strategy last year that's been making progress on some priorities.

Others in the field welcomed Thursday's steps and Campbell said there is 
more to come in the next few weeks. But Opposition Leader Carole James was 
also disenchanted, saying the small-scale amounts are an insult to the 
local groups already working hard on fighting the drug.

It will help a bit, as "they've been working with nothing so far."

But more addiction support and detox beds would go further than education, 
advertising campaigns and the secretariat.

The argument will continue for a while, and there's a sinking feeling that 
a lot more localities will be getting involved in it in the months ahead.

* * *

It must be disconcerting for Liberal cabinet ministers, who have had the 
run of the convention for the last four years, to turn up at panel 
discussions and see a half-dozen Opposition critics at each one. They sat 
impassively in clusters as the ministers answered questions from delegates.

Explaining the presence of 33 Opposition MLAs to delegates who may have 
grown unfamiliar with the concept after four years, James said: "We want to 
know what isn't working, so we can help facilitate change to the benefit of 
local government. But we also want to know what is working in your 
relationship to government."

What really worked for her Thursday was her description of the new tone in 
the legislature.

She described a more constructive and pragmatic approach that is tough, but 
not personal.

"Shouting is not the same as being effective. The big ideological divides 
that have traditionally characterized debate at the legislature have little 
resonance and even less relevance at city hall."

She promised to be "tough and unrelenting" on the Liberals when they're 
wrong, but when they're working for the common good "we will join in that 
pursuit."

Both leaders were gracious to one another on the tobacco case Thursday. 
Campbell congratulated Joy MacPhail for starting it several years ago, and 
James noted that the Liberals kept it going.

They're also united, surprisingly enough, on a Liberal election slogan. 
James finished her speech to the delegates by saying: "You don't need a 
government ad to know that this is the best place on Earth to live."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom