Pubdate: Fri, 29 Apr 2005 Source: Province, The (CN BC) Copyright: 2005 The Province Contact: http://www.canada.com/vancouver/theprovince/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/476 Author: Alan Ferguson Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine) THE MENACE OF CRYSTAL METH AND POLITICIANS ADDICTED TO THEIR SCRIPT Don't you just love it when the best-laid plans of politicians fall apart under the pressure of electioneering? In Britain, Prime Minister Tony Blair was sailing serenely on message to a third successive victory as leader of the Labour Party when a leaked document revealed he was warned by one of his own ministers that the invasion of Iraq was quite possibly illegal. As we all know, Blair and U.S. President George W. Bush marched off to war with perhaps the best of intentions -- but, as the public in both countries now knows, under utterly false pretences. Whether this bombshell is enough to topple the resilient Blair remains to be seen on May 5. However, it is encouraging that, in this era of extreme political manipulation, the banana skins are still lying there for the unwary. Here at home, as my colleague Michael Smyth has reminded us, Premier Gordon Campbell is a past master at diverting uncomfortable questions, stripping them of any negative context and cleverly turning them in his favour. Just as former U.S. President Bill Clinton first won the White House with the mantra, "it's the economy, stupid," successful politicians have long learnt to stick adamantly to their focus-group-tested message. It's perhaps no surprise then that, when Province reporter Matthew Ramsey was researching his recent series on crystal methamphetamine, he got no response from Premier Campbell's office to repeated requests for input. Ramsey wanted to know what plans Campbell's government might have to deal with the awful menace of a drug that is wrecking the lives of so many young people in this province. I was sitting in the audience Tuesday night in Kamloops at a Province-organized forum on crystal meth when two tearful mothers came to the microphone to share their stories of what the drug had done to their families. There were tears in the eyes of many in the audience, including mine, as the moms sobbed out their frustrations at finding nowhere to turn for help as they watched their young daughters' brains scrambled by this poisonous concoction. And the truth is that, according to all the experts, there is a shameful lack of treatment facilities for crystal meth addicts in B.C. Not all of these addicts want or seek help, granted. But those who do should not be asked to wait. Treatment must be there on demand. This drug is killing people, for God's sake. And yet, with this evil menace lurking in the background, glad-handing politicians solicit our votes with a monotonous recitation of PR-honed homilies to our booming economy, our bright futures, our unbounded prosperity. The tragedy is that you're unlikely to hear the words "crystal meth" uttered anywhere on the campaign trail. It's not in the script. Maybe the script needs rewriting. - --- MAP posted-by: Beth