Crystal Meth Task Force Strategies Society
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BACKGROUND:

Two & half years ago The Salvation Army Caring Place opened a facility in the downtown core of Maple Ridge, British Columbia providing shelter and meals to people in need. The response for services was overwhelming and while the community was aware of the growing number of people living on the streets with their worldly belongings being moved from place to place in buggies, they had no idea how extensive a problem it was until The Caring Place opened.

A meeting was organized in the spring of 2003 to address the problem. The attendees included front line workers, Salvation Army staff, city by-laws enforcement staff, RCMP and a number of street people. At that meeting the problem was identified. It was not a homeless or poverty problem, but an addiction problem and the drug of addiction was crystal meth. 90% of the homeless, 80% of car thefts, and 70% of the property crime are meth related. Now the bait car boys say that 100% of the arrests are crystal meth related.

Over the next year the front line workers worked in conjunction and used an individual case management procedure when dealing with the street people. They were there to help individuals when they were ready. They were faced with many road blocks, but through individual case management, and working with all the social agencies and rehabilitation facilities, Maple Ridge was successful in assisting over 300 people get off the street. Many are now leading productive lives, meth free. This is substantiated in the last GVRD homeless count conducted in the spring of 2005. Maple Ridge was the only community in the GVRD which had a reduction in homelessness. They also saw a reduction in auto thefts even without the bait car program.

The more they learned about crystal meth and the poison that it is, it became obvious that this was a huge community problem effecting the very fiber of our society and more had to be done. In July of 2004 Meadowridge Rotary Club hosted a public meeting involving members of the community from all sectors, including recovering addicts and family members who had suffered a loss due to meth. It was a very emotional meeting and the community took ownership of its problem. From that meeting the Maple Ridge Crystal Meth Task Force was formed and a campaign focused 'solely' on meth was launched. It is important to mention that only meth, not other social issues or addictions, was the focal point of the campaign. Other issues would only muddy the water so they put the blinders on and went to war. Our youth were at risk!

The Task Force reported to City Council and the public the results of the campaign. Many successes were achieved and many initiatives from the campaign are still ongoing.

The Task Force is well aware that the battle has not been won, but they have been able to substantially increase the level of community awareness about the horrors of crystal meth, have established a Meth Watch program (the first in Canada), have put into place several municipal by-laws, have reduced the waiting time for meth addicts' rehabilitation and have identified resources still lacking.

At the request of Premier Gordon Campbell, the Maple Ridge Crystal Meth Task Force produced a documentary of what their community did and this has been widely distributed throughout the Province of British Columbia. As the provincial level of community awareness grew, the need to produce a template of what Maple Ridge did became necessary. Other communities want to form their own task force and campaign against meth.

To fulfill that need, the Crystal Meth Task Force Strategies Society was formed. The three-pronged strategy to educate, enforce, and provide treatment is effective and achieving excellent results A number of presentations have been made to various communities, to Rotary Clubs and at public forums on meth. Our society is in full gear working with a number of communities to assist them in organization, and is committed to their success. We believe that with firm resolve, any community can achieve the same results as Maple Ridge and we are there to help every step of the way. Bear in mind that whatever the result is, it will be a success because anything to battle meth in your community is better than nothing.

Gord Robson
Crystal Meth Task Force Strategies

Gord Robson, father of nine grown children, lives with his wife Mary in his hometown of Maple Ridge where he maintains his asset management and consulting business. He is a past member of the International Association of Political Consultants and the American Association of Political Consultants for whom he has lectured throughout North America. He also sponsored and led a BC Delegation to Eastern Europe teaching democracy in 1990.

As an active member of his community Gord served as a Volunteer Fireman; was past recipient of the Chamber of Commerce Business Person of the Year and was a Charter Member of the Meadowridge Rotary Club of which his wife Mary is the Past President. He has served on numerous boards and commissions both municipally and provincially.

He has served the last two years a Client Advocate for the Salvation Army in Maple Ridge and because of his work there, he helped the Meadowridge Rotary Club organize a community wide campaign against Crystal Meth. As part of the campaign he has produced a movie titled "Life or Meth - A Community Takes Action" which tells the story of what Maple Ridge did to battle Crystal Meth.

Gord is currently forming the Crystal Meth Task Force Strategies Society, an organization with the mandate to assist other communities in British Columbia to form their own task force and campaign against Crystal Meth.

For more information Gord Robson can be reached by email at: grobson@robsonandassoc.com