Pubdate: Wed, 01 Nov 2006
Source: Revelstoke Times Review (CN BC)
Copyright: 2006 Bowes Publishers
Contact:  http://www.revelstoketimesreview.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2139
Author: David F. Rooney

READY TO BEAT METH!

Revelstoke's Community Connections is taking a lead role in helping 
the community combat the threat posed by crystal meth.

"Basically, we want to increase public knowledge and awareness to 
prevent it from coming here," says Karley Trauzzi, who is 
coordinating the agency's response.

She said in an interview last week that no one should make the 
mistake of thinking that the highly addictive drug is not already 
present in our community.

"It usually shows up as an additive in other drugs," Trauzzi said. 
"But I wouldn't doubt that it's already here."

You can call it meth, ice, crystal or crank - it's a dangerous and 
highly addictive drug by almost anyone's definition and while several 
so-called recreational drugs have been present in Canadian 
communities for decades, this one has a particularly unsavoury 
reputation. The drug has been blamed for increases in domestic abuse 
and violence and rising rates for crimes such as car thefts and break 
and enters.

Community Connections began organizing its campaign after it was 
awarded $10,000 in funding from the Union of British Columbia 
Municipalities. The UBCM is administering $10 million in provincial 
funding for a major, province-wide campaign.

The campaign was announced earlier this year. It is backed by mayors 
and councils, including Revelstoke's, throughout the province. Late 
last spring, Mayor Mark McKee and members of city Council came out in 
favour of the plan after hearing about the dangers of crystal meth at 
a meeting of the Okanagan Mainline Municipalities Association in Revelstoke.

There, they were briefed by RCMP drug investigators who warned them 
of the threats the drug posed to the individuals who use it as well 
as public security. Meth-amphetamines are, those Mounties said, 
produced in large quantities in illicit laboratories and their trade 
is, for the most part, controlled by organized gangs.

According to the information contained in the briefings, the 
substances required to produce crystal meth are available in almost 
any community. Some precursor chemicals can be acquired at local 
hardware stores while others can be purchased over the counter at 
local drug stores. That has prompted some stores to voluntarily 
remove cough and cold drugs like Sudafed from their shelves or put 
them behind the counter in order to keep an eye on sales of the 
drugs. But the people who are producing large quantities of meth 
aren't doing it by purchasing one or two packages of cold tablets at 
their neighbourhood pharmacy. Instead they're ripping off large 
amounts before they reach the retail market.

While no one, to the knowledge of local Mounties, is currently 
producing illicit supplies of meth-amphetamine in the Revelstoke area 
people, particularly impressionable young people, need to be prepared 
for the possibility it could show up here in commercial quantities.

Trauzzi plans to do that in a number of different ways.

The first thing on her agenda is a play, called Cranked, by the Green 
Thumb Theatre group that will be staged at Revelstoke Secondary 
School on Nov. 17 at 9 a.m. Trauzzi is also planning to survey local 
attitudes and knowledge about crank. The survey will be distributed 
to all Grade 10 students at RSS and will be available at local 
pharmacies, she said. Other initiatives will be announced as they near fruition.
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MAP posted-by: Elaine