Peterborough City police are seeing an increase in methamphetamine mixed in with crack ecstasy, sparking worries that the notorious drug is slowly arriving in the city.
Methamphetamine is commonly referred to as crystal meth. It arrived in Ontario about five years ago, city police staff Sgt. John Lyons said.
If first appeared in the Stratford area, when a methamphetamine maker from California moved to the area.
Lyons said the man was considered to be a “guru” among methamphetamine makers, and Stratford found itself in the midst of a growing drug problem.
Methamphetamine has begun migrating east, Lyons said.
“There are indications that crack that’s being used has meth mixed into it,” he said.
Methamphetamine belongs to a family of drugs known as amphetamines, stimulants that speed up the central nervous system.
It can be smoked, snorted or injected.
It’s highly addictive, and it’s Lyons’s guess that methamphetamine is mixed in to make crack and ecstasy more addictive.
Methamphetamine is made by combining chemicals like ammonia, Drano, iodine and the lithium from batteries.
Suzanne Galloway, health promoter with the Peterborough County-City Health Unit’s substance misuse program, said that chemical combination makes it extremely dangerous.
What goes into methamphetamine varies from batch to batch, she said.
“Nobody knows exactly what they’re getting,” she said.
When the dose isn’t controlled it makes each use risky.
Studies have shown that long-term methamphetamine use affects the parts of the brain associated with thinking and memory, she said, and can lead to paranoia and psychosis.
It gives users a sense of power, she said, which can lead to violent behaviour.
Galloway said users can also develop open sores and scabs, caused by constant picking at the skin.
The drug also speeds up heart rate, she said, which increases the risk for heart attack and stroke.
Chronic methamphetamine users develop severe tooth decay, a condition that’s acquired the nickname “meth mouth.”
Scare tactics don’t usually work when trying to dissuade people from using drugs, she said, but pictures of methamphetamine users and “meth mouth” do.
Galloway said it’s hard to know how many people are using methamphetamine, because users aren’t likely to respond to surveys.
She believes the number is low.
It becomes a big problem and a public health risk when methamphetamine labs begin popping up in the city, she said.
The chemicals used to make methamphetamine are flammable and explosive. Labs are characterized as biohazards.
Police have no indication that methamphetamine labs are in the city, Lyons said.
“We’re hoping that it doesn’t become a problem,” he said.
Police aren’t going to wait around until it is a problem before reacting, he said.
Education and keeping a close eye on the situation are crucial to stopping it, Lyons said.
Fighting the illicit drug trade is never a winning battle, Lyons said.
“It’s just something you try to manage and not let it overwhelm the community,” he said.
