IN THE NEWS

REGINA (CP) - Angel MacDonald was no stranger to drugs and getting high when she made the choice to try crystal meth. At 15, she had always thought meth was "dirty" so she stuck to things such as morphine, Ritalin, pot and cocaine. That is until she was hanging out at a friend's place in Saskatoon one night and meth was the only drug in the house.

"I wanted to get high so I tried it," said MacDonald, now 18. "Ever since then I have been addicted." 

She can remember the wave of adrenaline that washed over her body as she inhaled the smoke from her "rig" and then the paranoia setting in. She would hear things when there wasn't any noise and talk to people that weren't there. 

MacDonald said she slept very little for the next four weeks. She would end up doing the drug almost constantly for the next two years to the point where she could see tiny crystals soaking through her skin.

She would steal to get her next fix, mugging people on the street. The low point was taking $6,000 in merchandise from a family member's house. 

It was looking at herself in the mirror that got her to stop. Her weight was down to 95 pounds so she checked into detox. 

"I just looked so sick. I looked like I had some sort of wicked disease." 

MacDonald, who hasn't used the drug for eight months, was one of the young people brought in to speak to justice and health ministers from across Western Canada on Friday.

They had gathered in Regina to talk about the perils of crystal meth addiction - a problem that studies seem to suggest is moving from west to east. MacDonald was asked to put a human face to a meeting that dealt largely with abstract concepts.

A large part of the meeting was a call for tougher penalties for those who produce and sell crystal meth.

The federal government has already said it has the intention of reclassifying crystal meth so it is treated the same way as other serious drugs under the law. A recommendation on amendments is expected this fall. 

In the meantime, the federal government is proposing stricter controls on the chemicals used to produce crystal meth and gamma hydroxybutyrate, more commonly known as GHB.

The proposed changes would add six chemicals to those needing import and export permits, as well as a licence for production and distribution.

"I was pleased to hear the federal minister indicate his willingness to move on this," said Saskatchewan Premier Lorne Calvert, who was the politician that arranged for the meeting.

"From my point of view, the sooner we can move on that the better."

The current act separates drugs into tiers with trafficking and manufacturing penalties being tougher for harder drugs.

Cocaine and heroin are in category 1 and cannabis-based drugs are in category 2.

Crystal meth is treated as a category 3 drug, but police and politicians have been pushing to have it moved up to category 1. It would mean courts could hand out a life sentence in the most serious cases involving the drug.

But increased penalties don't mean anything if they are not used by the courts, argued RCMP Chief Supt. Raf Souccar, the director general of drug enforcement and organized crime. He spoke to the ministers in the morning.

"You can increase a sentence from a maximum of 10 years to 20 years. If the courts continue to give one or two years or six months in jail, then it doesn't make a difference," Souccar told reporters. "So minimum sentences is something that needs to be spoken about."

Otherwise known as speed or crank, crystal meth can be made almost anywhere with ingredients bought at the local drug or hardware store.

North Dakota's Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem attended Friday's meeting and urged Canadian politicians to tighten regulations around the sale of ingredients in stores.

He pointed to a law which just came into effect in North Dakota that requires cold medicines - one of the principle ingredients - to be behind the counter or under surveillance. Those who purchase them need to present identification and the information is recorded.

"Everybody has to join in and be willing to accept some minor inconvenience to put up some major road blocks," Stenehjem said.

"I would hope that what the provinces up here would do is to enact similar legislation restricting the purchase of the one product that you have to have to make meth - the cold medicine."