Pubdate: Tue, 26 Sep 2006
Source: Drayton Valley Western Review (CN AB)
Copyright: 2006 Bowes Publishers Limited
Contact: http://www.draytonvalleywesternreview.com/contact.php
Website: http://www.draytonvalleywesternreview.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/980
Author: Graham Long

METH REPORT RELEASED

After close to a year of crisscrossing the province and meeting with 
community leaders, law enforcement, health care providers and drug 
users, the Premier's Task Force on Crystal Meth released its final 
report last week.

The task force was chaired by Colleen Klein, the wife of Premier 
Ralph Klein, and Dr. Bob Westbury. Among the task force's 11 other 
members was Drayton Valley Mayor Diana McQueen. The report contains a 
total of 83 recommendations covering a wide range of issues, all 
targetted to fight the spread of the drug in Alberta.

Methamphetamine is a cheap and highly addictive drug which has become 
increasingly widespread in Western Canada over the last few years. 
The drug is relatively cheap to produce and has become particularly 
popular among young people. However, meth can have a serious impact 
on a user's physical and mental health.

"What we really learned is that the effects of meth compared even to 
some other drugs is really quite devastating," said McQueen in an 
interview last week.

The report's recommendations are divided into six broad categories 
which include taking a province-wide approach to the problem, healing 
and treatment, supporting Aboriginal communities and improving 
services and assessing results. However the bulk of the 
recommendations focus on preventing people from using the drug in the 
first place and on getting tough with users and dealers.

"With the help of community leaders across the province, the task 
force's recommendations will stop the abuse and negative impacts of 
crystal meth on our communities, workplaces, families and young 
people," said Klein in a statement to the media. "We can and must 
work collectively to fight against the damage of this drug."

Among the report's recommendations are the creation of 300 more detox 
and treatment beds across the province, more flexible privacy laws to 
allow doctors and treatment facilities to share patient information 
and the immediate creation of a fund to help reduce meth use among 
youth. The report also calls for tougher penalties for meth-related 
crimes and the creation of more specialized police units to combat 
the spread of the drug.

"The report is the first step," said McQueen. "The second step is 
implementation. This issue is so important across the province that 
regardless of who the next leader is they're going to have to get 
behind the report and work with the recommendations."

The full report is available on the Government of Alberta website at gov.ab.ca.
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MAP posted-by: Elaine