Pubdate: Mon, 28 Nov 2005 Source: Surrey Now (CN BC) Copyright: 2005 Lower Mainland Publishing Group Inc., A Canwest Company Contact: http://www.thenownewspaper.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1462 Author: M. Martin Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05.n1801.a05.html CRYSTAL METH A BIGGER PANDEMIC THAN CHICKEN FLU The Editor, During the past year, every newspaper has carried the grim warning of a terrible global flu pandemic. According to some of the world's health scientists, there is a possibility that the bird flu will jump from the birds to humans. It is possible it has already happened. All the chicken and geese they find with the flu, together with all other birds on that farm, are eliminated. All this concern is very official and heart-warming. Meanwhile, here in the real world, there is a pandemic that most government officials are officially ignoring. Crystal meth - the newest and one of the least expensive drugs on the streets - is killing our young people. This cheap drug is so addictive that most people become addicted after the first time they use it. The user has a life expectancy of about seven years. It is available everywhere. All the schools have it. Most kids know where to get it. Where are the official government warnings? Why are they all concerned about something that "could" happen and not about something that "is" happening? Not only that, when the police arrest people making or selling crystal meth, they are processed through our lenient court system and are back on the streets often within a few hours. Why are the people who make this killer drug allowed to walk the streets? Why are these people who are infecting our children not treated like the killers they are? Could it be that our politically-correct ideology is getting in the way of our so-called court system? Could it be that all our appointed judges are just plain too soft to address this? Are dying chickens more important than dying children? Whatever the reason is for this lack of action, we can be sure that more people will become infected with the deadly crystal meth virus, and more people will die. M. Martin Surrey - --- MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin