'Diabolical drug': Fredericton police chief calls for better education, treatment to curb rising crystal meth use

Last week in Fredericton, the same person overdosed twice from crystal methamphetamine within a couple of days, and two other individuals stumbled upon bags of the drug while out and about.

Fredericton Police Chief Roger Brown says those situations speak to what’s become a troubling problem for the city and New Brunswick.

"It’s a sad call for a member to have to go to a tent site, under a bridge, behind a mall or in a house or in a flop house, and see yet another teenager overdose and not respond to NARCAN and die. That’s not good … and that’s happened," Brown said.

"What also we’re seeing, which is troublesome, is in the past when we used NARCAN, it worked and it worked well. Now, we’re finding that there are times that the members have to use sometimes two or three doses of NARCAN to try and get a response from the system or the body to respond … and that in itself is telling. That means the product is stronger. That means it’s more lethal. That means it’s probably mixed with ingredients that we don’t know.”

The drug has been on the rise over the last two to three years in the province.

An Atlantic Meth Strategy was struck to take a regional look at the issue, and investigate where it’s being made, how it’s being transported, and who’s selling it.

The suspicion is that at least some is making its way to the Maritimes from Mexico and -- depending on supply and demand -- the price fluctuates often.

Brown believes the price doesn’t matter as much because once a person is addicted, they may do anything to get more.

That has sparked an increase in crimes of opportunity, like theft, in order for individuals to pay for the drug.

Brown estimates about 25 to 30 per cent of the homeless population in the city are struggling with meth addictions.

"That’s not good because no matter what we do from a roof-over-your-head perspective … this is a group of individuals that don’t work well in that environment, but we can’t keep up, we’ve got to find another way of doing it and that’s where I think we need to get into special treatment centres," he said.

"Centres that are going to look after these individuals and get them out of that addiction cycle and back into what would be considered a normal life, even though once you’re out of that cycle, your normal is going to be a new normal."

Long-term effects of the drug can include memory loss and brain damage, organ damage and respiratory issues.

According to the Atlantic Meth Strategy, 61 per cent of users relapse in one year -- even with treatment.

"It’s a diabolical drug," said New Brunswick Green Party Leader David Coon.

Coon says he’s noticed the drug is on the rise in his riding of Fredericton-South, and he agrees that people need a place to go to get clean.

"We don’t have that in New Brunswick," he said. "We don’t have that kind of residential treatment that can be rapidly accessed to help people get off crystal meth and make sure services are there for them."

The Fredericton Police Force would like to see more education and awareness on the drug in schools and in the community.

"I would suspect that some parents would probably see a bag of crystal meth at a bedroom at home, a kid's bedroom, and probably not know what it is. Find it in their pockets, and not know what it is. That should not be the case," Brown said.

He’d also like to see agencies involved in trying to help individuals work with police on the issue.

"We’ve got a lot of systems and processes in place that have good intentions, that are not doing us any favours," he said. "Privacy issues and not being able to share information between agencies, when at the end of the day we’re just trying to help that individual."

Last week, Fredericton police seized almost $600,000 in crystal meth during a traffic stop, along with other drugs and weapons.

Brown says he hopes that was a wake-up call for New Brunswickers, adding the drug is "everywhere."

"Unfortunately, when people go down the road of meth … it’s a tough road to get out of. I think that’s where our systems show some gaps. There’s some gaps with respect to the needed assistance for those individuals who are already down that road, number one, because if they don’t get out of it, eventually they’re going to be met with an untimely death … as a society we’re better than that, we don’t need to let that happen."