Pubdate: Sun, 08 May 2005
Source: Province, The (CN BC)
Copyright: 2005 The Province
Contact:  http://www.canada.com/vancouver/theprovince/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/476
Author: Ian Bailey
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine)

CRYSTAL METH: CAMPBELL TAKES STAND

Deadly Street Drug: Premier Talks Of His Plans To Fight 'Dangerous Threat' 
To B.C.

NANAIMO -- B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell yesterday deemed crystal meth a 
"dangerous" threat to the province, promising that B.C. will seek allies in 
other provinces, Ottawa and even western U.S. states to win the war on the 
street drug.

"As someone was saying to me the other day, this is a very inexpensive 
drug. It's inexpensive and it lasts a long time. It can be incredibly 
damaging to our kids, to teenagers, to people who decide to try it," he said.

Campbell, echoing the consensus among western premiers and territorial 
leaders at their annual meeting this past week in Lloydminster, Sask., said 
the drug is as dangerous as cocaine or heroin.

"We have to raise up everyone's understanding and the penalties for that. 
The people that are supplying it are not penalized the way they should be. 
They're not punished the way they should be."

Crystal meth was the subject of a Province series in April. It was followed 
by four public forums on the issue in the last two weeks.

The drug also loomed large on the agenda at the meeting of western premiers 
this past week, leading to promises of joint action to push Ottawa to make 
jail sentences for meth dealing as stiff as for cocaine and heroin dealing.

Sentences for cocaine and heroin dealers are now two to three times as long 
as those for meth dealers.

The premiers and territorial leaders have also called for Ottawa to control 
sales of the chemicals used to make the drug, a measure the provinces, 
including B.C., are already considering.

Campbell also said yesterday he wants to talk to western U.S. governors at 
a planned meeting on general issues in Colorado in June about solutions 
that would span national borders and crack down on the agricultural 
chemicals used to produce meth.

"If we deal with agriculture products in a way that works in Canada, they 
need to deal with it in a way that works in the United States, so we'll 
learn from one another," he said. "We are going to pull together best 
practices and best results."

Sol.-Gen. Rich Coleman has said this month that his ministry is "looking 
into" legislation or regulations to limit the purchase of large quantities 
of cough and cold medicine containing ephedrine or pseudephedrine, two 
crucial ingredients in the production of meth.

Campbell backed the idea yesterday.

"We have to create a gap between the ingredients used to create the drug 
and the public. We don't want to make it easy access, but we have to be 
sensible about how it works as well.

"There's a big challenge, because some of the major ingredients for crystal 
meth are agricultural products, and how do you deal with those? There are 
thoughts about registering the people who are acquiring those products."

Campbell ruled out following the example of Alberta, where young meth users 
can be locked up for up to five days, arguing that "it's very difficult 
with the Charter of Rights and Freedoms to force people to accept treatment."

Campbell said his government is doing its best to create access to 
treatment spaces, touting its $1 billion in spending per year for 
mental-health and addiction services.

"The frustration, in many cases, is you can't create the space overnight. 
You have to build it. You have to open it up. That's what we've been doing.

"We've been opening up addiction services in different parts of the 
province. We will continue to do that.

"There's a challenge with youth-addiction spaces. We're looking at how we 
can expand our opportunities there. That all requires investment and that's 
part of the overall strategy."

Brenda Locke, Minister of State for Mental Health and Addiction, has said 
there are not enough residential facility beds for drug and alcohol abusers 
in need of help.

Campbell also slammed the NDP, arguing that a decade of majority New 
Democratic governments did little on the file.

An NDP spokesman rejected the criticism.

"[The Liberals] have been slow to recognize this as a problem and put 
resources into it," said Bruce Ralston, NDP candidate for Surrey-Whalley 
and designated party spokesman on the issue.

Ralston said the NDP would double the amount of money available for 
mental-health and addiction services, with a focus on early identification 
and support for people at risk, more detox beds for people in need and 
expanded community-based recovery and support.
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