The bust happened at 11:34 p.m.
Mohamedaly Seu and Roy Ban, both 18, of Nanaimo, were arrested and later charged with possession for the purpose of trafficking
Methamphetamine is growing in popularity, said Mel Vincent, a psychiatrist at Edgewood Chemical Dependency Treatment Centre.
"In terms of the Vancouver Island area and the Lower Mainland it's definitely been increasing - the frequency and the availability has been going up because it's cheaper and it's longer acting," Vincent said.
"It's a concern, partly because it's increasing and partly because it's a very destructive drug," he said. "It's very highly addictive and for some people it can cause them to become psychotic - like schizophrenia, in a more chronic manner."
The drug activates the pleasure centre in the brain, and the user soon wants more and more. Some women first try it to control hunger and lose weight.
"When people get on it, all they notice initially is, 'wow, this feels good...' The negative effects, of course, don't come until they're really addicted to it."
"Then at the end they're in this trap where biologically they want it more and more, even though they're not even able to get pleasure from it any more and they know they're going to get paranoid and uncomfortable with it. But they can't not take it."
Addicts become emaciated, with skin blotches and even permanent brain damage
Vincent said few meth addicts check themselves into Edgewood, a private clinic where treatment can cost thousands of dollars. Still, he's seeing more users.
"There's no question on the Island it's going up, although comparatively there's still a lot more cocaine - crack and powder - than methamphetamine," he said.
Vincent said young people are the most likely to use it, but Const. Wayne Vaughan, a Nanaimo RCMP youth liaison officer, said he's seen no evidence of that.
"You can have some young people using it, but it's not in the main," Vaughan said. "There's ecstasy - it can be there and kids don't realize it."
