Pubdate: Tue, 27 Sep 2005
Source: Packet & Times (CN ON)
Copyright: 2005, Osprey Media Group Inc.
Contact:  http://www.orilliapacket.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2397
Author: Colin McKim

CRYSTAL METH WON'T SPARE ORILLIA: POLICE

Council Told Highly Addictive Drug's Arrival Inevitable

Orillia must be on guard for crystal meth, an extremely addictive street 
drug that will inevitably strike our community as it snakes through 
Ontario, says OPP Det. Sgt. James Ciotka.

"Although I don't see it a lot on the street (in Orillia), there have been 
seizures in Barrie and Collingwood," Ciotka told Orillia council Monday night.

"It's only a matter of time before it's here."

Crystal meth may already be present in the city, secretly mixed into other 
drugs such as ecstasy to boost the high and quickly hook the user, said Ciotka.

Ingesting crystal meth just once can be disastrous, said Orillia OPP 
detachment commander Insp. Jim Szarka.

"It's more addictive than heroin. Just one use can cause addiction."

Crystal meth, or methamphetamine, has already ravaged British Columbia, 
said Ciotka, a member of the OPP's drug enforcement section.

"Police are executing three search warrants a day in crystal meth buildings 
in Vancouver alone."

The drug -- also called ice, glass, chalk, crank and fire -- has spread 
east through Alberta and the prairie prov-inces, and is now appearing in 
southwestern Ontario, said Ciotka.

"The OPP and all police services are concerned."

Ciotka described crystal meth as something of a poor man's crack cocaine, 
generating a similar high for less than half the money.

"With crack, you pay $50 for a two-hour high. You pay $20 for crystal 
meth... smoke it like crack, and the high lasts for 12 hours."

The drug accelerates the heart, reduces appetite and causes a dizzy, 
dreamlike euphoria that can turn in an instant to panic and nightmare.

Long-term use can cause damage to the brain, liver, kidneys and lungs.

For people already feeling depressed, crystal meth can induce fear that can 
translate into vicious behaviour, said Ciotka: "Police have to use more 
force (with crystal meth addicts). They're not compliant."

But the greater impact on the community is the drug addicts' scrounging for 
money to pay for the next fix, said Ciotka.

"How do they get money? Break and enters, robberies -- these are the things 
they do when they're desperate."

In the last few years, crack cocaine seizures have shot up in Orillia from 
3.2 grams in 2002 to 184 g so far this year, Ciotka informed council.

"Crack cocaine, I can positively say, is here in your community. And it's 
here to stay,"

Because crystal meth can be produced from a concoction of chemicals -- 
including sodium hydroxide, ephedrine, acetone and iodine -- that can be 
legally purchased locally, there is no need to import the product through a 
large criminal network, as is the case with cocaine, said Ciotka.

"I could produce it here in Orillia and not have to worry about getting 
ripped off by dealers. I could distribute to my friends at low risk."

The OPP was asked to brief council about crystal meth after Coun. Carl 
Garland inquired about the threat it might pose to Orillia.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom