• encouraging community-based initiatives that will be funded by grants administered by the Union of B.C. Municipalities;
• assisting the province’s six health authorities to enhance existing treatment programs; and
• developing school- and broader-based public awareness campaigns.
“Crystal meth is a big deal – much bigger than $7 million,” says B.C. Solicitor General John Les.
Still, his government’s $7 million investment in a crystal meth strategy is indicative of how seriously Les and his colleagues are taking the problem.
With more than $1 billion spent on mental health and addiction services, there is more available to crystal meth addicts than that outlined in the $7 million action plan, but targeted funding is meant to achieve certain things.
Raising awareness is one of those, and it’s a critical component of the plan, says Les.
People need to understand how dangerous the drug is, says Les, adding that the effects of crystal meth are often irreversible. That makes it important to get the message out to young people who may think they are going to try it as a lark, just one time.
Les has a strong message for anyone contemplating using meth: “The first time you take crystal meth might be your last… It is an evil, vicious and unforgiving drug.”
Part of the government’s meth strategy includes the establishment of the Crystal Meth Secretariat. The secretariat — part of Les’s ministry — was set up to help ensure that the meth initiative is implemented as a “cross-government” strategy.
Les has seen first-hand the effects of crystal meth, having spent time talking to addicts on the streets of Victoria and Vancouver.
When you see people who have used crystal meth in the past, you see people in desperate shape, says Les, “people whose health is suffering badly.”
And then there are the seasoned cocaine and heroin addicts who discover their drugs have been mixed with crystal meth, leading them to places they never expected to be — even though they are admitted drug users.
But meth use is not confined to the streets.
According to the Crystal Meth Secretariat, “a recent survey involving four B.C. school districts showed that up to 8 per cent of students in Grades 6 to 12 report having tried crystal meth in the 2005 school year.”
Other statistics point to meth use among young people.
“One in 10 people between the ages of 15 and 24 have tried using the drug,” Vancouver Coastal Health president and CEO Ida Goodreau said in March.
So the fight against crystal meth is waged on two fronts, says Les: prevent as much as possible and then try to salvage as much as possible by treating those who have become addicted.
But treatment is not easy. Les notes that it’s frustrating to treat crystal meth addiction — and it usually takes successive tries before an addict can get clean.
So as far as Les is concerned, the best avenue to treating meth addiction is clear: “There’s no better treatment than prevention.”
By Jennifer Miller
