Pubdate: Fri, 18 Mar 2005
Source: Chief, The (CN BC)
Copyright: 2005 Whistler Printing & Publishing
Contact:  http://www.squamishchief.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2414
Author: Sylvie Paillard
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine)

A CHEAP, ADDICTIVE, DANGEROUS AND GROWING PROBLEM

Upcoming Town Forum To Focus On Crystal Meth

It's cheap, addictive, easy to make, and extremely dangerous.

On Monday April 11, a concerned group of Howe Sound residents will host a 
town forum on the very potent and destructive drug, crystal meth.

Roger Lake of the Washington State Narcotics Investigators Association 
(WSNIA) is helping to organize the forum.

Lake has been retired from the Washington State patrol since 1998 and has 
dedicated his time to educating communities on meth.

The 1990s saw a marked increase in the production and use of meth on the 
west coast of the United States, spreading quickly to the Lower Mainland. 
And the heaviest production and use continues to be on the west coast, says 
Lake, and its growth is faster than law enforcement can put together task 
forces.

Lake reveals the numerous reasons why crystal meth is such a powerfully 
addictive and destructive drug.

"It's smoked so it has a much higher addiction rate than injecting or 
snorting and so it's just takes you down like right now," said Lake.

"And the drug is extremely powerful. It makes you feel really good. Primary 
users are females, what they tell us is for weight loss and it makes them 
feel good about themselves, gives them a lot of self-confidence. And the 
males use it because of self-confidence, energy and sexual drive. Over the 
long term use it actually diminishes your sexual drive but short term they 
think it's quite good for that."

Crystal meth is also inexpensive and provides a high that lasts 12 to 18 
hours. But because the duration of elevated dopamine and endorphin levels 
last so long, when the drug wears off, the brain adjusts these levels to a 
much lower rate to assert a balance. This crashing feeling is too 
"uncomfortable" for users, says Lake, so users take another hit. 
Individuals don't sleep on the drug so it's common for users to stay awake 
for three to 10 days. Lake says his organization knows of one user who 
stayed awake for 20 days. The drug eventually induces a psychotic state in 
the user who then goes on paranoid, violent rampages.

"They become what we call meth-induced paranoia," he said. "They are 
delusion, psychotic, violent, totally irrational. We've had an increase in 
domestic violence, child abuse, assaults on any enforcement person, whether 
it's the meter reader or the guy picking up the garbage. They're 
delusional, they actually believe they're seeing things and they act on 
those things."

Because the drug is so easy to manufacture, meth users commonly form their 
own labs. The ingredients used to make the substance are readily available 
in hardware stores, pharmacies and sporting goods stores. A simple internet 
search can provide a recipe that Lake says is "as easy to make as chocolate 
chip cookies."

He says the drug is a "huge" problem that cuts across social, economic and 
racial boundaries so the impact on society is much more widespread than 
other drugs which tend to stay confined within a certain class. Meth labs 
are often found in residential homes where children live. Both mother and 
father become addicted and manufacturing the drug exposes the child to 
chemicals and the danger of fire and explosion. Most labs are detected due 
to fire or from complaints of domestic violence.

Lake said that authorities and support agencies become taxed almost beyond 
their ability to keep up. Police, fire department, child welfare, 
environmental agencies, hospitals and jails are only a few of the agencies 
involved in breaking up a meth lab. And foster systems find it impossible 
to place children taken from these homes because they have become known as 
violent, unmanageable kids. They also carry with them a smell of chemicals, 
which permeates their skin, making care workers worried for their own health.

Squamish's school-based prevention worker Leanna Buffie is also involved in 
organizing the forum. She says there is anecdotal evidence that shows meth 
labs exist in Squamish.

In the next four weeks leading up to the forum, The Chief will run a weekly 
series on the drug, its impact on individuals and society, treatment and 
enforcement methods and what communities can do.

Next week's article will focus on the existence of crystal meth in Squamish 
and how one Squamish resident dealt with his addiction.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom