Drayton Valley Mayor Diana McQueen sits on the 12-member task force headed by Colleen Klein and Dr. Bob Westbury and she expects that, after months of public consultations and discussion, the final report and recommendations will be presented to the premier next month.

While the recommendations haven't been finalized yet, McQueen said the public can expect to see many of their own thoughts and ideas reflected in the final document. Key recommendations to the province will include establishing more treatment programs and centres for those struggling with addiction to the drug as well as expanding current programs.

The document will call for a broad education program aimed at younger children as well as young adults to help stop addiction before it begins and tougher law enforcement for meth-related crimes. McQueen said this would include putting more officers in place who can dedicate their time to dealing with drugs and drug-related crimes, similar to Drayton Valley's General Investigation Section.

Although the original timeline for the task force's recommendations was moved up in order to be presented to the provincial government before Premier Ralph Klein retires, McQueen feels the issue of methamphetamine in Alberta is significant enough that the recommendations would be looked on favourably by whoever becomes the new leader of the party.

"It didn't matter where we travelled across the province this was a priority and so I think that no matter who the leader is, it will be a priority to implement them ( the recommendations )," she said.

For McQueen, who was a member of town council when Drayton Valley decided to tackle the emerging issue of meth in the community head on, being able to share that knowledge with other communities in the province is important.

"This was an initiative that Drayton Valley started," she said, pointing to the successful work done by the Building Safer Communities program to help combat meth. "So it's an honour to sit on the task force and have input into the recommendations."

She's proud of the recommendations the task force has been able to come up with but said one of the most rewarding aspects for her has been getting a chance to work with the different members of the task force and the public. Being able to meet with recovering meth addicts and those still struggling to beat addiction also helped her gain a perspective on the impact the recommendations of the task force could have across the province and beyond.

McQueen said she's received calls from other provinces who are waiting to see what the recommendations will be and if they could be used to tackle the meth problems in their own provinces.

Now the task force is eager to present the final recommendations and the estimated costs associated with rolling them out to the premier and his government so that things can move forward.