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CRYSTAL METH ACROSS CANADA ~ Enough cannot be said!
Crytal Meth manufacturing on the rise! ~ The clandestine manufacturing of crystal meth has increased significantly in Canada in recent years.
Figures from RCMP Synthetic Drug Operations
Five years ago, RCMP noted an increase in the cash sales of products used in the manufacture of synthetic drugs, such as methamphetamine, ecstasy and GHB. Chemicals were being diverted from legitimate sources to illegitimate drug-making labs in Canada and, in particular, the U.S. Tighter controls in the U.S. on the sale and purchase of pseudoephedrine - a principal ingredient in crystal meth, most commonly found in cold medications - led American drug traffickers to find supplies in Canada and bring them across the border. Organized crime dominated the smuggling, diverting the chemicals mostly to methamphetamine "super labs" in California.
Along with the increase in chemical diversion, police and addiction counsellors started to see a resurgence in methamphetamine use among Canadians in their teens and twenties, mostly in Alberta and B.C. In Alberta in particular, the availability of meth spread from cities to bedroom communities and rural areas.
In 2003, new legislation called "Control of Precursor and Other Substances Frequently Used in the Clandestine Production of Controlled Substances" [pdf format] came into force. The law was aimed at stemming the flow of Canadian chemical shipments to meth labs in the U.S. American police did note a large decrease in seizures of Canadian pseudoephedrine.
RCMP Officer Jones* thinks the drug is being imported from underground labs in Vancouver and Washington state to smaller towns. However, the Canadian meth lab industry started to boom, and outlaw motorcycle gangs, Asian crime groups and independent trafficking networks became heavily involved in the production and trafficking of methamphetamine.
A rise in synthetic drug use.
At the same time, the RCMP saw an "unprecedented rise" in synthetic drug use, in particular ecstasy and methamphetamine in the rave and club drug scene. They also saw the use of synthetic drugs spread to more mainstream use. Today, the RCMP says that pseudoephedrine is the most diverted chemical in North America. And, the World Health Organization has said that "methamphetamine is the most widely used illicit drug after marijuana" in the world.
In 2004 B.C. police busted thirty meth labs across the province.
Canada's crystal meth problem is the worst in British Columbia. The number of deaths there related to methamphetamine has risen from three in 2000 to thirty-three in 2004. Most of those deaths have been drug overdoses or car accidents in which the driver was high on meth.
A large majority of meth-related deaths in B.C. have been men and most were in the Vancouver area where B.C.'s meth problem is most pronounced. Drug counsellor Bob Kane* says that crystal meth has become the drug of choice for young users in the city Kamloops, B.C.
A rise in certain types of crime in B.C. in recent years is in part attributable to the increased use of methamphetamines. Car theft, fraud and sex assault are all fuelled by the adrenaline rush from crystal meth. Charges in possession, trafficking, importation and production of drugs, other than heroin, cocaine and marijuana have also risen dramatically in B.C., reflecting the growing use and manufacture of synthetic drugs in the province.
The RCMP's Scott Bayer* says the problem is quickly spreading across Canada. "It's right across the country now. In Toronto and Montreal and the east coast, it's there now. It may not be at the same level as here, but it's definitely moving from west to east". [*names are anonymous for protection]
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