Anonymous writes "Pubdate: Fri, 08 Jul 2005
Source: Chilliwack Progress (CN BC)
Chilliwack is hosting a community forum on methamphetamines in late August or early September aimed at alerting teenagers to the dangers of the drug, which costs little and lasts long.
The city is also looking at setting up a meth watch" program in an attempt to control the household ingredients used to make crystal meth.
City councillor Sharon Gaetz, public safety committee chair, says teenagers don't realize the damage they are doing to their still-developing brains as the drug physically and permanently alters neurological pathways.
Making matters worse, she says crystal meth has become trendy among teenage girls as a weight-control method.
Coun. Gaetz says she was shocked to overhear the way young girls were talking about meth in a local change room recently.
They were going to start selling ( meth ) to their friends because it's such a great way to lose weight," she says. It's really scary because they don't have all the facts."
Getting the facts to them will be the aim of educators and former teen users at the forum.
There's some issues of danger as well that we need to address," Coun. Gaetz says, as clandestine meth labs can explode, putting neighbours at risk and firefighters at house fires.
The meth watch" program enlists pharmacies and other sources of the ingredients that make up crystal meth to report who is buying the chemicals, how frequently and how much they are buying.
Coun. Chuck Stam says crystal meth is a community issue, it's not just a policing issue" and it's something that we have to get ahead of really quickly."
A similar forum was held recently at the Seabird Island reserve to combat the rise of crystal meth use among aboriginal youth. City forum organizers will ask Seabird Island officials for their support.
Coun. Gaetz says she also wants to ask former Chilliwack-Kent MLA John Les, now B.C.'s Solicitor General, about a provincial strategy to combat crystal meth.
"
