Pubdate: Fri, 16 Jun 2006
Source: Orillia Today (CN ON)
Copyright: 2006, Metroland Printing, Publishing and Distributing
Contact:  http://www.simcoe.com/sc/orillia/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1508
Author: Frank Matys
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?241 (Methamphetamine - Canada)

METH DANGER

Pot, Ecstasy Laced With Deadly Drug

Local pot smokers and other drug users may be unwittingly ingesting 
crystal methamphetamine, a highly-addictive and potentially-deadly 
stimulant that police say has surfaced in Orillia.

"It is scary," OPP Const. Gerry Dwyer told a reporter this week, 
moments before addressing a gymnasium of elementary school students 
on the dangers of drug abuse.

Long associated with Canada's western provinces - where the crudely 
made drug has had a devastating impact on communities - crystal meth 
has been appearing in parts of southern Ontario for several years.

This week, police confirmed that local dealers are now lacing 
marijuana and other products with meth in the hope of hooking their 
customers on the extremely addictive stimulant.

"It can happen to the nicest person in the world," Dwyer said.

Ninety per cent of the pills seized in a recent ecstasy bust were 
found to contain crystal meth, investigators discovered. "A lot of 
the marijuana is being laced with it, too, so it has become highly 
addictive," said Dwyer.

Dwyer and other officers involved in OPP-run drug education programs 
targeting elementary-school students, are increasingly focusing on 
crystal meth and its associated dangers

In a darkened gymnasium at Regent Park School on Wednesday morning, 
Grade 7 and 8 students watched in stunned silence a video featuring 
interviews with parents whose children had died as a result of drug abuse.

Tearful, her voice breaking with emotion, one mother recounted her 
daughter's final hours in the throes of an overdose, the teen's body 
giving out after being kept alive on a respirator.

"You have to hit them hard," said Dwyer. "If we save one kid here, it 
is going to be worth it.

"We know the drugs are out there in the high schools and in some 
elementary schools," he added. "We have to prepare them."

The initial "rush" provided by crystal meth can last a half hour, 
though the high can linger for a dozen hours before the user finally 
collapses from exhaustion.

They often fall into a state of depression, and can turn violent or 
aggressive unexpectedly.

As of April, grocery and convenience stores without pharmacies no 
longer sell cough and cold medications containing ephedrine or 
pseudoephedrine - ingredients used in the production of crystal 
methamphetamine.

Medications containing ephedrine or pseudoephedrine as single 
ingredients were moved behind the counter at pharmacies, while those 
containing multiple ingredients continue to be available on shelves.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom