Jump in meth use puzzles police, health minister
New numbers suggesting a surge in the number of young people getting help for crystal meth addiction come as a surprise to police and Alberta Health Minister Fred Horne.
According to Alberta Health Services, the number of young people in Edmonton seeking treatment has gone up by 42 per cent over the last three years.
Youth workers attribute the increase to the fact that crystal meth has become easier to find and cheaper to buy.
When asked about the report on Friday, Horne said that he’ll discuss the findings with AHS officials.
“I haven't reviewed the report in detail yet,” Horne said on Friday.
“I understand there's some suggestion that we might be able to do more in order to get youth who are abusers who are identified to treatment sooner.”
Police were also surprised to hear about the increase. Edmonton Drug Detective Guy Pilon says that the numbers of people using meth have levelled off after hitting a high in 2007
"It's been pretty status quo,” Pilon said. “There's always that core group of meth users who use. I'm certainly not noticing a big influx in those numbers growing."
Pilon suggests that police may not have been in contact with some of the people seeking treatment.
