Pubdate: Wed, 08 Feb 2012
Source: Ottawa Citizen (CN ON)
Copyright: 2012 The Ottawa Citizen
Contact: http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/letters.html
Website: http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/326
Author: Douglas Quan
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mdma.htm (Ecstasy)

DOUBT CAST ON CANADA'S ECSTASY SUPPLY RANKING

Canada may not be the hotbed of ecstasy and meth production as some 
reports have suggested, according to new research.

In 2009, a widely publicized United Nations World Drug Report said 
Canada had become a leading producer and exporter of synthetic party 
drugs, prompting some media outlets to dub Canada "Colombia North."

But a study completed for Public Safety Canada last year, and 
released under access-to-information legislation, says the assertion 
is supported by little data.

"The publication of the 2009 World Drug Report created a media frenzy 
of the wrong kind for Canada as it has been identified as one of the 
world's lead producers of amphetamine-type stimulants," the study 
said. "Yet the proposition that Canada is a primary ATS 
(amphetaminetype stimulants) producer and exporter may be premature."

The findings come at a time when police and public health officials 
are grappling with a spate of deaths in Western Canada related to the 
use of ecstasy, also known as MDMA.

The 2009 UN drug report noted that two years earlier, a relatively 
large amount of methamphetamine (1.54 metric tonnes) and ecstasy (985 
kilograms) had been seized in Canada, putting it among the leading 
nations in the world. The report stated that Canada had become the 
"most important producer of MDMA for North America" and that since 
2006 all uncovered ecstasy labs in Canada had been "large capacity 
facilities operated principally by Asian organized crime groups."

The report noted a majority of the meth and ecstasy seized in 
Australia and Japan had been traced to Canada.

But the Public Safety Canada study says there is still "too much 
uncertainty" in the data to know Canada's true role in the global 
synthetic drug trade, and it notes the annual amount of meth seized 
in Canada has been as low as 60 kilograms.

The study suggests Canada may contribute as little as 0.6 per cent or 
as high as 4.6 per cent of the world's supply of the stimulants. 
Based on those numbers, "Canada would not be considered as a major 
producer in the global ATS market under most standards," the study said.

Lead author Martin Bouchard, a criminology professor at B.C.'S Simon 
Fraser University, said in an interview Canada is more likely among 
the Top 15-producing countries, as opposed to the Top 3.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom