Pubdate: Fri, 03 Feb 2006 Source: Parksville Qualicum Beach News (CN BC) Copyright: 2006 Parksville Qualicum Beach News Contact: http://www.pqbnews.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1361 Author: Colleen Dane Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?241 (Methamphetamine - Canada) TASK FORCE RELEASES REPORT ON METH Oceanside Group Way Ahead On Meeting Meth Education, Prevention Objectives There was a round of thank-yous served up with the snacks at the wrap-up meeting for the Oceanside Community Crystal Meth Task Force this week. "I think that it's really important -- what's happened in this community is really special," says chair of the task force Kevin Wilson at the open house, which also served as a release party for a report of the group's work so far. "I don't want to call it a final report -- this is really a look back," he says. The report shows the steps in their work, from September 2004 when the issue first came to light, to now. It looks at the successes, along with their one big challenge -- the restructuring of a task force model they had adopted from the Maple Ridge project. With it all laid out on paper like that, others involved were able to reflect on the amount of work that has been accomplished. "I'm feeling really good about the way the community responded to this initiative and I think overall that's what had the greatest impact," says Al MacDonald, another committee member who works with the Ministry of Children and Families. He says one of the committee's greatest strengths was being able to cut through bureaucracy, and their drive to do something, rather than passing off the responsibility. "Here we just said it needs to be done, how can we pool our money to do this," says MacDonald. They moved quickly, stayed flexible and were able to overcome hurdles, he adds. While the party sounds like a wrap up to the entire project, it is really only a scaling down of the OCCMTF -- from a broad community initiative to a smaller management committee that will continue the programs that have been set up. That continued monitoring, says MacDonald, is a good thing. "I don't think we're out of the woods on this -- I think we have a framework of how to deal with this or any other emergent drug issue," he says. Wilson says its an accomplishment that all of Oceanside should be proud of. "The task has been achieved, the objective has been met," he says. "We're way ahead." - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom