RITI

:THE WH , II W A 0 WHY OF INFORMING TilE PUBLI
RY
L METHAMI HET Ml ~ IN PRIN
EORCE

8

.Jud

,

Jitchcll

n1 crs it of orthcrn Briti sh 'o lumbi n, 20 05

T il

OM

UN IV ERS ITY

ITY II AL T l I

F NORTII ER

E

BRITI I I COLLJ~1BIA

ovc mbcr 2009
(( ~ Juu

IE

M itchcl L _009

TR

T

In 2000, r tal m thamphetam in c mad an app aran
unit and drug bu l ; h w

r, the fir t publi

informali n forum did not occur until carl

in the l rin e
arn1ng

2006. fhi

documentar e idcnce and inter iew, , t c. amine th

rgc ho pita! del

m a pr

inciall

rctrc pccti e ca c

p n ored
tudy u

ho , h W, and why OJ the informati 11

ab ut r tal methamphetamine that is pr vidcd to the public in Prince Je rgc. !\. timcline f
media a c unt. rc cal an incrca c in lan gua ge de<,igncd to stimulate public concern about
cr tal methamphetamine and incrca c public tru')l for the pn incial go crnment. ll ori.1. ntal
di connection bet'v\ecn community agc ncie in term

r ro le recognition (interna l recognition

fan agenc mandate) and role perception (externa l pcrcepti n of agency mandate) ccm t
increa e difficultie
c mmunit

111

trategic planning an I formulation of a

harcd vi ion ~ r the

..

ll

WL
ir t and ~ r mo t, l

h t

thank m

upp rt , tren gth and hu g thi

I v uld like t c, pr
r. Prkachin.

r.

children, J

h Jer m

uld n t ha\

happ ned .

and

n 1e, wit hout their

m gra titude t m; UJ cr i )r (Dr. ll cnr I larder) and my committee
\ en-

il

n and Dr. , ch midt) for their patience in guidin g me through

th i learning pr ce

There i n t en ugh r om on the page t

include my c mmunit

upp rter that were with me thr ugh ut thi JOUrne
Brian and

nk e) a \ ell a Dr

and

y peers (Aaron, Anders, Br oke.

aune ' han vvere inva lu ab le b th in support and in s ight. I

wou ld like to th ank co-w rker , taff and friend
e pecially - ri c

of family, friend

ay rd and Kathie n 01 on.

at

B

for their help and suppo rt

f peci al menti n i Bob Thomas" ho took the

time to read eve ry ver ion of thi tome from it incepti n. even th e ones that did not make it
to the uperv i ory committee. l would al

like to acknow ledge all my friend around the

wo rld through the wonder of Facebook.
Thank you for yo ur s upport.

Ill

L

F

b tra t

..

kn \ led gment
abl

r

II

ntent

Ill

Li t f Ta bl e

v

lo ar

VI

F re'v\ rd

V II

..

haptcr I : Intro du cti n
tru tureof he, .
IIi tori ca l Bac kgr und
hapter _: Literature Re iew
r ta l Meth amph etamine
Meth amph etami ne
e: Pa t and Pre ent
eth amph etamin e Fffe L
Mak in g and Ma rk etin g Meth amph etamine
efining ommunity and Its Re pon e t Meth amph etamin e
ngagin g ommunit on Methamph etamin e and ub tance
rea tin g a Meth amph etamin e Panic
The Role o f Medi a in Pani c reati n
edi a dvocacy in ommunity Re pon e
cd

5
5
5

e

9
12
15
18
20
22

23
24

Chap ter 3: Re ea rch De 1gn

27

' hapter 4: Re ult
Doc um ent
Meth do logy
1\naly is
Med ia To pi
Po li cin g
ll ea lth
ommunity
Prov in cia l
Abstrac ts, 1\gcn y and JlWernm ent Doc um ents
bo:;trnct
Co mmunity Pl annin g Co un c il
Prin ce Ci eo rge ' ity 'oun c il
orth ern I Iea lth uth orit

30
30
32
32
32
32
"I

_).)

34
3--135
_)5
36
- (1

37

..
II

J~

M intr du ti n t cr
ung '' omen .
r tal meth . It
,

REW R

tal 111 ~thamphctamin' wa a on er ati n with a frien I ab ul

un g \\ )lllan had l en lealin g fr Ill her rarenls in order to rurcha~e

unded lik l\l ical addicti n behaviour until I hea rd th e ag

l

fthe

man ellin g th e drug. To thi <> da , I ca nn l rcmcmhe r' hi h role ither oun g"

pin ed bull d kn \\

\\ Ct'

man

ne \\ 8~ ad licted nnd ne \\a~ len lin g: one \HI'> I ~ an d th e oth er I . I

r memt r fe elin g ill. In m mind, th ~s \vet-c habie n 1 difT rent rn 111m
rri nd . Parent

un g

t \vn <>O n ~ an I their

inv lved in the liv e . rb th) ung \\ men .'[ he home<;, \t\ hil e 11 1l

ll a h , pr 'ide I be) nd the dail ~ nece ~itie . f c 1 itc thi . the girl ') ~ti ll uccumbed t th e
pull fer

talmcthamph etamine.

l \\a thinkin g ab ut 111ethamrhetamine in thi 1 arti ular li ght '' hen it became th e
topi

four gr up proJe tin a

cia I v\Ork rc 'a rch method cou r c. I reali/cd the co mpl c, it

of thi drug. The co l t the c mmuniti e , in term
ap pea red tagge ring.
tim

v ide net\

r 1 er onal I

, p tential, and resource

rk fpeer, friend , and family that were avvare of my. at

, all con umin g intere tin m et h ~ mphetamine, helped to increa e my knov ledge or

cry tal methamphetamin e and it

ffect . A m m a rene

methamph etamine ca me in crea in gly clo er t
I a in g Prince

111

grcv . the cfrect

own h me.

y

f

n had friend " ho \\ere

e rg t e cape th eir addiction t meth amp hetamin e.

th er

e ''atchcd

helpl e ly a th ey lo t ground dail y. I kn " o f adult no\ li in g ' ith mental illn s due to
meth and wa tched yo un g adu lt attempting t ha e f'uncti nin g relati n hip ''hilc in the
cyc le faddiction and iol nee that meth in crted in their li e . "' r talmetham1 hetamine
a ffe cted my life and that of my

ns with ut an

f LI S actually t uching it.

Regi n I nG ren e n Metham 1 hetamine
o ernmcnt Do umcnt

7
7

ummary

8

Inter

9
M th d I g
nal
umm ar)

9

40

nn cti n
erti al Di onnc ti on
ll oriz ontal Di . co nn c ' ti on
R lc Per cpti on
Marketin g
1arketin g
th am1 h tamin c
lcthamphdamin c ark ctin g l : fTcc ti ve n c~s
1ark tin g Pre cnli n
Pre\ nti 111 Marketin g l: ffec ti cne s
im elin c fM cth amph ctamin c in I rin cc ' e rge
idence of Mcth

57
59

hapter 5: Di cu 1 n
he Who f In f rm in g th e Pub Iie in I ri n e

61
61

R

eo rge

p

rth ern I lea lth
Dru g Dealer
The I low of Informin g th e Publi c about Meth amph etamin e
The Wh y of Informin g th Publi c about Meth amph etamin e
umm ary
hapter 6 : onclu ion
Recomm endati on

44
46
46
50
51
55

62
63
6

64
66
68
72

74

Reference

76

Appendi I
Appendi x 2
Appendi x 3
Appendi x 4
Appendi x 5
Appendi x 6

90
91

92
9

104
105

v

Ll TOFT
Figur l T pe of ocument b th

umber f Panic \

igure 2

umber or Panic W rd b

Figure

ding f r carch participant

Figure 4 Panic Word by Yearly
ernment

cti itic

ar or

uartcr f

rd

enlion in Media

95

cument

96
108

ccurrcnce \ ith Pro incial
116

R

mmunit

term t r fer t bel ngin g t a 1arti · ular gr 1u1 through a
mm n ·hara ct ri ti c u h a gcograph ica I area, ' r icc
mand ate, pr fe ·i nal a fili ati on. 1 r vidin g orr e i in g
pc ifi , cr i e related t ) ·ryt, tal mcth <. 1111 hctamin e usc .

mmunity

ith a ca pital ' . th i"> t ' rm refe rt, to Prin ·c ) 'o rg ' , l riti sh
' o lumbi a.

r talmcthamphctamin'

ati ve r amph eta mine th at is used in a cr tall in c
~ nn . It is a ce ntral nc r o us s st ' 111 c;;t imul antu sc d illi cit!
a a rec rea ti onal dru g.

Meth amph tamin e

dcri ali ve or amphetamin e th at is a ce nt ra l ncr us
;stem timul ant in th e medi ca l trea tm ent t,uc h a'> obes ity
and ill i itl a · a re rca ti nal dru g. Thi s dru g may be in
p \\d cr, tabl et, or ca p ul e G rm a \'v eil a'> crys ta llin e.

cc ta

timul ant dru g th at i re lated in chemi ca l c )mpos iti on t
me alin e and amph etamin e. and i · u cd illi citl y for it
euph oric and hallu in ge ni c cfTc t .

Methamph etamine lab

n are a in whi ch meth amph etamine is made th ro ugh a
procc
r chemi ca l rca ti n . mall opcrati n u uall
onl y abl e t produ meth in cr tallin e r pmvdc r fo rm .

uper lab

n area in\\ hi ch methamphetamin e is made whi ch has th e
re ource to pr du cc meth amph etamin e in pill and ca psul e
a we ll a cr; tallin e and po\ cl cr fo rm

row op (operati on)

An area u ·eel to grow marij uana.

Minimum barri r

rv1 e

er ice th at hm e fev , if an y re tn ct1 0n . on provi din g
health, he Iter. addi cti on , or other nc ce · iti cs and scr ices
t margin ali zed popul ati n . flcn the onl re tr icti on on
crvi cc pr vi ion i no dru g r alco ho l usc on th e prop ·rt)
a we ll a · no di re pcc tful or\ iolcnt language or be hm iour.

..

II

R :W R

My intr du ti n t
t

y un g " om n.

cr tal meth . It

ry tal m thamphetamin e

a a c n cr ation

ith a fri end about

un g \ oman had b en t alin g fr m her parent in ord er t purchase

und ed like t pi ca l addi ti n be ha iour until l heard th e age o f th ey un g

woman ellin g the dru g. To thi da , I ca nn t remember whi ch r le e ith er y ung
pi a

oman

d bull do know n wa a !dieted and ne ' a dea ling; one ' a 12 and th e th er I . I

rem mb r ~ elin g ill. In m mind , th
fri end . Parent

ere In

' ere bab ic n d iffere nt fr m my wn sons and th eir

eel in the li e

tl a h , pro idee! beyo nd the da il nece it ic

r bo th

un g \vO men . The home 'whil e not

c pile thi , the girl

till uccum bed t the

pull of cry tal meth amphetami ne.
[ wa thinking abo ut methamph etamin e in thi parti cul ar li ght ' hen it beca me th e
topi c of our group project in a oc ial wo rk rc ea rch meth ods co ur e. I rea li zed th e co mpl ex ity
of thi s dru g. The co t to the co mmuni tie, in term s of per onall
app ared tagge rin g.

s, potenti al, and reso urce

wid e netwo rk of pee r , fri end , and fa mil y that we re avva re of my, at

times, all co n uming interest in meth amph etamin e, helped to in crease my know ledge of
crys tal methamphetamine and its effects. A my awa rene s grew, th e effec ts of
meth amphetamine came in crea in gly close r to my own home. My so ns had fri ends who were
leav ing Prince Geo rge to escape th eir addi cti on to methamphetamin e. Oth er we v. atched
helpl es ly as they lost ground dail y. I know of adults now li ving w ith mental illnes due to
meth and watched yo ung adult attemptin g to have functi onin g relati on hip vvhile in the
cyc le f adcli cti on and violence th atm eth in serted in their li ve . Cry tal meth ampheta mine
a ffected my life and th at of my so ns without any of us ac tu all y touchin g it.

1 TR
h premi e ofthi re arch

Tl

a that a in gle e ent in ol ing cry tal

methamphetamine in Prince

e rg mad e it ne e ar t inCorm th e

ommunity about

tal m thamph etaminc .

hil e neither the document rega rdin g cr

tal methamph etamine

cr

incid -nt , nor the re ea rch parti cipant of thi
definite cataly t appeared t

merge.

tud y id entifi ed a in g le 1 r r ellin g incid ent, a

p n e tabli hing a tim eline of the inC nn ati on

a ailable, it eemed th at th ag nd a f informing the Prin ce ' eorgc pullic ab ut cry tal
methamphetamin e did n t li \. ithin th e 'o mmunity but with the Prov in cial
The Briti h

lumbia pr

incial g vernment pon

overnm ent.

red the fir t Prin ce George

cry tal methamphetamine public inform ati n ~ rum n February 2, 2006. The loca l MLA
and the 8

o licitor General wh pre ent d th e forum D cu ed n loca l re pon c and

strategic for addre sin g the threat of cr; tal m thamphetamine use (M ini try of Publi c
afety and oli citor General, 2006). The pro ince a erted th at crystal methamph etamin e i ,
'' a se ri ou and grow in g problem in Briti h olumbi a" (Briti h olumbia Mini try of Hea lth
Services, 2004, p. 3). However, th e Prince George Reg ional Ho pita! (PGRH ) detoxification
unit and the Ro ya l Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) identified cry tal methamph etamin e a
a probl em for the Community in 2000, six years before the publi c informati on forum .
Structure ofThesis
This retrospective case stud y examined media accounts and docum ents that we re
available to the Prince George public rega rdin g cry tal meth amphetamine fr m January 12,
2000 to December 3 1, 2007 . Interview participants ran ge from exec uti ve administrator to
frontline service pr viders; all parti cipant frequently prov ided informati on to the public or
specifi c populati ons within Prin e George about crystal meth amph etami ne. Former cr;stal

2

methamphetamine u r al o 1 articipatcd in ord er t di

ern th e" h , h

in[! rmin g th public about cr tal methamph tamine in Prin ce
The purp
l.

~

e rge.

e f thi re en rch \ a t :

tabli h n timelin e of pu bli c in fo rm ati on nb ut cr sta l meth amph etamin e in

Prin ce
2.

and ' hy'' of

eo rge,

Determine if th ere \va a co mpre hen i ~effort b

' ommunity age ncic to inform

the pu bli in Prin e Ge rge abo ut cr) talm eth amph tamine and its eflcc ts, and
3.

nmin e the age nda
Prin ce

ft he agenc ie in ol ed rega rdi ng informin g th e publi c in

e rge ab ut cr; tal me th ampheta mi ne and it effec t .

Through th e e bj ecti ve . the' \ ho, how, nnd wh of informing the publi c" we re ex pl red,
th ereby enabling eac h face t of th e rc arch que ti n to deve l p it own c rnpl ex ity and
depth .
hapter One prov id e an ove rview of th e resea rch obj ecti ves and th eo ry rega rdin g th e
prov ision of info rm ati on to th e publi c about crystal methamph etamin e. The seco nd chapter of
thi s th es is exa mines releva nt literature. Chap ter Three prese nt th e methods fo r th ere ea rch
and anal ys is. Chapter Fo ur di cusses the resu lts, makin g reference to th e releva nt th eo ri es
whi ch are used to inform the publi c about crys tal methamph etamin e. Chap ter fi ve
summari zes co nclusions and recomm end ati ons.
Historical backf{round

Th ere wa littl e interest to in crease public awa reness of crys tal methamphetamine in
Prin ce Geo rge in 2000 . From 2000 unti I 2004, there we re few medi a acco unt of cry tal
methamphetamine (other than in co nnecti on w ith arre ts in whi ch crysta l methamphetamine
wa present) . In a letter to th e editor of the Prin ce Geo rge Citi ze n in 2000 (l ie. sedcnz, 200-t)

tated that up t 40%> f

uth in a lo al hi gh ch

ere aid t be u ing r ta l

methamphetamine. llo e er, the fir t public forum n cr sta l metham1 hetamin e in Prince
e rge publi ' a

pon ored not b I ca l er icc agen i s but b the Pr

Th ere were t

in ial go vernm ent.

agc n 1c " h directed th e in~ rm , ti on to the publi c ab ut ry tal

meth amphetamin e in Prin e

e rge durin g thi tim e frame: th e R ' MP and th e

orth ern

uthorit . oth the p li ce~ rce and th e hea lth authoriti es marke t pr min cnt message

Hea lth

rega rdin g th effe t and on cq u n c of cr; ta l me th amph ctam in c u c t
Prince

e rge. In fac t, th e R

uth throughout

1P a ti cl ca mpa igned aga in t crys tal meth amphetamine,

upportin g initi ati e at th e fede ral (Pccb le . 2005a), pro in cial (Peeb le , 2004a), and
muni cipall e el (the D REprogram). In add it ion to th e R ' MP ca mpaigns. th e
1-lealth Youth Dru g and

orthcrn

lc hoi Pr ve ntion pr gram, and tree t ' pirit (" ' tree t pirits

Theatre ompan : hangin g th e wo rld ne perfo rm ance at a tim e", 200 8) pro mot d
awa rene

of cry tal methamph etamin e's impac t on health .

Howeve r, dru g dea lers we re al o ac ti ve in info rmin g th e publi c about crys tal
meth amphetamine. Often, dru g dealer used marke tin g strategies th at, at tim es, see med to
mimic campaign by tobacco co mpani es, such as nega tin g poss ibl e hea lth ri sks (Love ll ,
2002). Fro ntline dru g dea lers wo rked through open markets (s uch as sc hoo l ) and often
determined th e market by price or avail ability of illi cit dru gs (Kerr. Small . & Woo d. 2005).
Initi atin g new crys tal meth amph etamin e use rs was relati ve ly easy, eith er thr ugh fr iend
(l larri on, Eri ckso n. Korf, Broc hu , & Benschop, 2007) or market manipul ati on (Mac Donald.
Zhou, & Breen, 2002). Resea rch parti cip ants di sc us eel marketin g strateg ies in Prin ce George
th at we re imilar to th o e found in th e literature.

In 2005 , media ace unt and ther publi d cum ent b gan t in rea e th e u c of
word

u h a "epid mi ', "c il", and "de a tatin g" t de cribe cry tal methamph etamine

(J an, 200 5; P eblc , 2005d). These w rd c nn oted a threa t that mu t be pre ented.
ltimatel , Lh e w rd rai eel cr tal meth amphetamine Crom th e tatu o f a n n pr bl em, r
pr bl em with n definili e beginnin g or end . to a ymb li cri . i '" hi h co mp li ed th e publi c
to a t immedi ately t addre

the threa t of r tnl meth amph etamine ( eum an, 1990) .

urin g thi tim frame, th e prov in cinl go crnm ent needed t di vert attenti on and
tncr a e public tru t after un endo r eel cut to du ati n, hea lthca re, and th e . ale of 8

Rnil.

The Prov in cial go ernm ent re p ndcd to the inc rea in g pani c ab ut meth amph etamin e with
re ource in th fo rm of one- ti me eed gra nt offere I to eac h co mmun ity in Briti sh
olumbia .

oode and Ben- Yehud a ( 1994 ), in their th e ry of the oc ial co nstru cti on ora

moral panic, de cribed an elite mode l in whi ch a panic wa " fab ri cated ve r a nonex istent or
tri vial threat . .. in ord er to ... di vert attenti on fro rn i ues, th at if addre sed, wo uld threaten
th eir own private intere t "(p. 160). Prin ce Geo rge . a ridin g with three prov in cial Members
of the Leg islati ve A se mbl y whi ch in cluded th e deputy premi er, not onl y rece ived two eed
grants, but was also chosen to host one of th e oli citor Ge neral's Meth amphetamin e forum s.

5
LIT ~ R

RE R

I W

Cry. to/ !ethamphe fmnine
!though r tal meth amphetamin e wa g nera ll rega rd ed a a pec ifi c form f
meth amph etamine, the li tc ratur

urro un din g thi co m1 und was ften un clea r a · t whi ch

pec ifi c fo rm f meth amphetamin e wa be in g disc ussed ( 1ati in, Lamp inen, &

c hee,

2006). In both academi c and non-academic I iterature. meth amp hetamin e wa refe rred to a
meth cry tal meth, meth amph tamine, and cry ta lm cth amphetnmin c.

r th e alm a t two

hundred doc um ent , book , and artic le u ed in thi paper, onl y len co ntain ed th e term
cry tal meth amph tamin e r cry tal meth. ln add iti on, ome publi catio ns refe rred to
meth amphetamin e a a ub tance \\ithin the catego ry amph etamine type timul ant (/\ T )
(Ki ee, 1992, 200 1; World ll ea lth

rga ni zati on, 200 1). The remaind er refe rred ole ly to

meth amphetamine. Th erefo re, throughout thi paper, crys tal meth amph etamin e i re ferred to
as meth amphetamine unl e sa spec ifi c name wa used a a qu ote or refe rence titl e.
Me thamphetamine Use: Pas/ and Pre ·ent

mph etamine was first produced in the late 1800 in Japan (Lin ebe rry & Bo tw ick,
2006) . In 1932, amphetamine wa pro moted as a na al spray to treat ast hm a, and by 1937,
amphetamin es we re u ed in th e treatm ent of narco lep y and hyperac ti vity ( orde te, 2004 ).
Meth amph etamine, a derivati ve of amph etamin e th at wa a co mm onl y use d to treat
depress ion and obe ity in th e 1950 and 1960s and reached a pea k of 3 1 milli on prescription
in th e United tate in 1967 (An glin , Burke, Perrochet, tamper, & Wud- oursi, 2000).
So ldi ers fro m

erman y,

ngland , United State , and Japan u ed meth nmphctamin e during

W rld War II l 1ncrea

en rg , al ertn e , and aggre

n ( nglin tal. , 2000 · Nord e te,

2004).
fter WWli, t

kpil c

Cam1 hetamin c an I meth amph etamine th at were " le rt o er

fr m licit pr du cti n during th \ ar peri od" ( or lc te, 200

p. ) \

b th li cit and illi cit market in Jaj an, the United

\ eden ( ord este, 2004, p. ).

ln Febru ary _QQ O, th e

nit d

ati n

amphetamin e t) pe timul ant ( T

encral

tate . and

s cmb ly tateclthat th e c pcmd ed usc of

. \v hi h inc lu ded meth amph etamin e, had evc rc n gati vc

con equ enc e fo r both indi idu al and the "nati onal cc urit and
(Kl ee, 200 I, p. 2 ). The
T

orld Hea lth

t be grea ter th an the number

(World Hea lth
on AT u e

rc ava il abl e thr ugh

ve rc ignt o f ' tate ,,

rga ni/ ati n co n ide red wo rld wid e co n ·umpti on o r

r pc pi e who con um cd coca in e and

pi atcs c mbin cd

rga ni za ti on, 200 I, p. 7). Howeve r. Kl ee (200 I) p inted out th at reli abl e data

a rare. a mo t co un tri e

uch a

weden and Japan foc u ed n " eizures,

arrests and clini cal studi e of re tri cted sampl e "( Ki ee, 200 I, p. 24). The most acti ve
resea rch on AT

came out of th e

Recentl y, th e United tate

, Au trali a. and th e United Kin gdom (Ki ee. 200 I).
ati ona l urvey on Dru g

se and Il ea lth and th e

Monitorin g the Future survey sugge ted that a dec lin e in meth amph etamin e u e among yo uth
had occurred (N IDA , 2006 ). Yet th e U.. publi c health surve ill ance sy tem, Drug Ab u e
Warnin g Netwo rk (DA W ), presented stati ti cs which showed a 50 perce nt in crease in
emergency departm ent vi its related to meth amph etamine u e betwee n 1995 and 2002.Thi
number reached four perce nt of all dru g-related visits in 2004 ( ID , 2006). ln additi on, an
increas in g number o f states in th e U reported a ri se in meth amph etamin e treatment
admi ss ions, a hi gh a eight percent of all sub tance use treatm ent admi sion by 2004

7

( ID , 2006).

!earl , the e tali ti

methamph tamine u e in the

appear d t 1 re enl c nnicting a co unt

f

nitcd tat .

T date, metham1 h tamine re ea rch in

riti h

olumbi a ha G cu ec.l alm a t

lu i el on treel in ol ed or marginali L c.l y uth in large urban center ( ollin el al. ,

e

200 · ampin n, Me hec,
W od, t ltz, M ntaner.
v hil e rate

Martin , _0
Kerr. 200

. In

iller. , trathd ee, Kerr, Li , & W od, 2006 ;
anc u cr. from lay 1996 t

fm cth amph etamin e u e am ng injecti on drug u er, in cr a eeL the age of

m thamphetamin e u cr dec rea d (Fa irba irn et al. , 2007). I I we er,
a

ece mber 2004,

rt d th at meth amph etamin e trend in

orde le (20 04)

anac.la \ ere tab le or decrea ing.

Whil e mo t peo ple ha e n t e perienccd injecti on dru g u. c, current soc ial trend s
whi ch demand hi gh ac hi ve ment and pe rfo rm ance ( ord es te. 2004) often rece ive co mm ent.
The effect of meth amph tam in e we re perce i eel a benefi cial by orn e main trea m
popul ati on

uch as worke r on graveya rd hifts ( ord e te, 2004; Rawso n, An glin , & Lin g,

2002), students with hea vy co ur e loads (Lampinen et al. , 20 06: Quintela et al. , 2000), and
sin gle moth ers with multipl e ro le (Briti sh Co lum bia Mini stry of Hea lth ervice , 2004;
Covey, 2006). Young wo men often perce ive meth amph etamin e u e to be b e n e f~c i a l a an aid
for we ight los (Covey, 2006 ; Jenkin , 1994; l obe-Arm stro ng, 2005). Fo r exa mple, an
Ontari o Student Dru g Survey reported th at fe male had hi gher timul ant u e and overa ll
hi gher methamphetamine use than mal es in grade I 0 to 12 (Adl af & Ivi , 1998).
As recentl y as 1991 , th e US arm y used amphetamines to enh ance ~akefuln e sa nd
attenti on in pil ots who parti cipated in late ni ght manoeuvre (Emon on & Va nde rbeek,
1995). Other tudi es detected meth amphetamin e u e am ong ac ti ve-d uty

military

per onnel in 1996 (Kun man et al. , 1996) and from 2000 to 2005 (Lacy et al., _008).

8

tal. (200) ugge ted thatmethamph etamin u e in th e mi litar wa re lat d

H we er, La

to the regional drug cen .

me militar dru g 1 li cie

ee med t eli c ura ge

methamphetamin u e am ng pers nn eL e\ en in regi n \v here ci ili an u c v a hi gh. "Th e e
[p ch o timulant ] [fu lied] lab r, [fac ilitated] longer h ur o r ork , [enhanced]

erall

work in ten it and focu , and [crea ted] a kind of freneti c indu striou ne s, em bod mg,
m n ca n alu '" ( ingc r ct al. . ~006. p. ~05) . . ome blu e c liar v orker used

th rein , ke

meth amph tamin e t in crca e alertn e
ome job ro utine . imil arl y,

and \\ake fuln es~. and to dec rease the monotony o f

me tru ck dri cr al o percc i\ eel meth amphetamin e as

benefi cial wh n dri in g I ng el i tance (Je nkin s, 1994; Kl ee, 2 0 I;
Anglin, &

in g. 2002 : R. Rawso n,

ln inter te\

ord este, 2004; Rawso n,

nza le , & Brc th en. 2002).

v ith t\ ent fi e liJ V po iti ve men who had ex with men, 'emple,

Patterso n, and

rant (20 02) in ve ti gated th e men' moti vati on fo r meth amph tamin e u e.

Most participant

tated that fri nd introdu ced th em to th e dru g, and th e most co mm onl y

given rea on for methamph etamin e u e wa to enh ance ex ual pl ea ure (88%), fo ll owed
close ly by th e de ire to get hi gh (84°/o). Parti cipants stated th at they were more likely to
participate in unprotected anal sex whil e u in g meth amph etamin e, as we ll a

ee k out hi gh

ri sk partners or have sex with men th ey wo uld not oth erw ise choo e for a ex partn er.
Methamph etamine seemed to enabl e u ers to have longer lastin g sex and multipl e orgasms.
In additi on, participants wh o found an al sex painfu l used meth amphetamin e to relax and
increase the pl easure of anal sex. In a stud y of 49 excerpts from a prev iou stud y on gay and
bi sex ual men, simi lar moti vati ons for meth amphetamin e u e was shown, in cludin g in crea eel
sex drive with greater endurance, decreased e ual inhibiti on, and a hi gher pa in tolerance
( reen & ll alkiti , 2006) . Baskin- omm er and omm er (2006) recorded simil ar result in a

9

ur

f24 un1 er il

ludent

nge le , alifornia. The tudenl , l t 24, repoti d

111

mcrea ed e ual ri k takin g ( e

ith ut c nd m use and e

u in g methamphetamine . tudent al

ith multipl patiners) while

reported an incr a e in relati n hip iolenc e \ ith

methamph tamine u e.

tudie ofth erfe t of methamph tamine u e in communitie ,

e pe iall regardin g p

ibl e c n cq ucnc e

uch as Ill

and oth er "c: ua ll y tran mitted

infecti n through hi gh ri ·k sexua l ac ti ity. ( Jib on. Lcam n,
Jarlai , & Mal \v 200 : empl e,

rant,

Fl nn , 2002; .' emaan, De

Patte rso n, 2005) are in crca ingly prominent.

Afef ha mpheI om ine Effect,.
ntil the 1970 , the main

urce or methamphetamine v.,ere black market product diverted

(through theft or ubterfu ge) from pharmaceutical c mpanie (Burton, 1991 ). Whil e
pharmaceutical methamph eta min e wa a lega l. tand ardiLed medication, methamphetamine
produced in home lab lack dover ight by the regulating bodie Vvhic h ensu re the are ty of
th e community for u er and non-u ers, and monitor th e quality of th e prod uct.
Methamphetamin e produced in home lab . or large illicit manufact urin g operati ons (super
lab ), wa con idered five tim e more potent than the lega ll y made product of the 1970
(Rawson, Anglin, & Lin g, 2002). Meth amph etamin e has also been produced in home
laboratori es from rec ipes available on the intern et (Rawson, Anglin, & Ling, 2002; trang.
2007).
As well as bein g cheaper and more accessible than other illicit dru gs (Covey. 2006;
Lineberry & Bostwick, 2006), methamphetamine ha proven to be diver e in its
consumption: it can be smoked, snorted, ingested, injected, and in se rted vag inall y or ana ll y
( ovey, 2006 ; Lineberry & Bo twick, 2006) . Common characteristic of meth amph etamin e
use, such a appetite uppress ion and slee p depri va ti on, with chro ni c usc ca n lead to

10

gniti e and/ r m
t po r

d di

pin g abi liti e (

ct al. , 200 6;

rd er

u h a an iet , dcpre i n and fati gue whi ch, in turn , lead

e , 200 ; in ge r et a l.. 2006) an I i lencc (

inge r et al. , 2006). Long term effe t

vcy. 2006 ; el inc

f m th amph ctamin c use includ e troke,

itT gular hea rt b at, abdomin al pcin . tremblin g. an, iet . in omni a, ( nglin ct al. , 2000;
ovc , _006 ;

lD . _006) a we ll a

Pro ! ng d p chi atri c

mptom

meth amphctam in e u c ( hang

tru ctural change to th e bra in (Vo lkow et al. , 200 I).

ec m t be cau cd by cJ pam in c defic its fro m
li ala. Ern l.

olkO\ . 2007; ' ck in c ct al. . 200 I; Wang ct

aL 2004) and appear to orrelate vv ith the c, tent or m tham1 hetami ne u e (Sck in c el al. ,
20 01 ).

ome peo pl e Vv h u e meth amphe tam ine e, hib it mc th amphetamin -in duced

p yc ho i . am ti ati n. anhed nia (Wa ng ct al. . 2004). delu i ns. hallu cina ti ons
( ri urapanont et al. , 200 ). and in co herent peec h (A li et al., 2007;
Tay lor, & Lentz, 2007;

all aghan, Brand .

g nh ardt. Ro burgh. & Mc Ketin , 2007) .

Fo ll ow ing a tud y of 15 chroni c meth amphetamin e u er . ekin e ta l. (200 I)
uggested th at methamphetamin e may co ntri bute to pro longed psyc ho i . Ma r hall . Belcher,
Fe in stein , and O'Dell (2007) tated th at there were long lastin g defi cit fo r object recogniti on
memory in rats ex posed to methamph etami ne. Volkow et al. (200 1) advocated fo r mo re
resea rch to detennin e if meth amph etamin e use in crea ed ·'vuln erabili ty to Parkin on'
di sease or oth er neurodegenerati ve di ea es" (p. 381 ). ln th eir tud y of brain image of
chro ni c methamphetamine users, Baicy and London (2007) found co rti ca l defic it in
abstin ent meth amph etamine users that affected functi on related to ma in ta inin g dru g
abstinence. Th e chemi ca l changes in the brain we re acco mpani ed by im pa ired inh ib itory
control or the abi lity to monitor drug u e behav iour. Ultim ately. th ese fin ding

ugge t that

Il

the chan ge t the brain fr m chr nic metham 1 hetaminc u e pia a ro le in cravin g and
relap e am ng pc pl e

ho ea e t u e methamph tamine.

ocia I impact of mcthamph tam inc usc ce rn i mi lar to th er ub Lance
d pendenci e . ~ (Te et
Bre ht,

nglin,

u h a a de rea cd ability to parent dTccti\ cl ( It hu l r, 200

D ian , _oo

, relati n hit

Morgan & Joe. 1996), and p I dru g u c (
been d cument d.

iolencc (Ba kin - omm crs

u ~ tin . .... 00

: Re id . Elif on.

S mm er , 2006 ;
terk. 2007) have

!though Ba kin -, omm er and .' omm cr (2006 ) re1 ot1eu incrcnsed

partner i lenc \\ ith meth amph etamin e u e among uni er it

tud cnt , nge 18 t 24,

meth amphetamin e u e did n t pi a; a ignifi ca nt ro le in carr') in g v..capon

uch a a gun s or

kni ve , r a nn in Li gating fac tor\\ hen fi ghtin g \\ ith tra ngc r .
maj or diCfer nee bet\\ en meth amph etamin e and oth er dru g \ as found in th e area
of treatm ent, pecificall y regardin g the length of tim e Cor inpati ent trea tm ent (Brecht & vo n
Mayrhau er, 2002; Cretzmeyer, arrazin, Huber, Bl ock, & ll all , 2003; Frawley & ' mith,
1992; Hunt, Kuck, & Truitt 2006 ; Obet1 et al.. 2000 : Raw on.

onzal e & Breth en. 2002; R

Rawso n et al. , 2000: tran g, 2007 ). Stand ard treatm ent prog ram in th e

nitcd tates and

Canad a are based on th e Minneso ta Mode l. twenty eight days of inpati ent rehabilitati on
foll owed by extended outpati ent th erapy and/or parti cipati on in 12-step group such as
Alcoholics Anon ymous (Rawso n, 1999) . According to several studi e . peopl e who we re
addicted to meth amphetamine seemed to require more than th e 28 days all otted for inpati ent
rehabilitati on (Brecht & von Mayrhause r. 2002;
2003; Frawley &

retzmeye r, arraz in . Huber, Bloc k, & Hall ,

mith , 1992; Hunt. Kuck, & Truitt. 2006 ; Obert et al. . 2000; R Rav so n et

al. , 2000 ; Strang, 2007) .

12

retzm er tal. (200
addi ti n wa unne

argued that different treatment[! r methamph etamin e

ar ho e er, the alternati e treatm ent m del c amin ed in thi stud

pro id ed at 1-a t I wee k ofint r enti n. Th li[i t le fa per on" h wa
methamphetamin e ft n po

e e lement o f di

ddi ctcd to

rg ni za ti on uch a irregul ar lcc pin g

pattern , in adequ nte nutriti n, c. ce i e c. ual ac ti vit , and a socia ln ctw rk f th er
meth amphetamine u er (

ve , ~006; R Rm c; n. 1999; R Ra\\ SO n,

a. ht n, Domi er, &

Reiber, 2002; Whitten, ~00 ) \\h ic h ma) t' quire longer per iodc; to tab ili ~:e. Whi le th
tand ard 2 da treatm ent pr gram appea red to be effec ti e for orn e peo pl e recove ring from
meth amph tamin e u e. th er req uired a longer in-pa ti ent peri od to all ow fo r life tyle
stabili zati on ( o

, _006 : Whitten, 2006). The literature i · in co nclu ive on thi s a pec t of

methamphetamin e u e.
Making and 1\farketing Me thamp hetamine

Due to easy acce ibility of chemi ca l co mponent and rec ip e for meth amph etamin e
on the intern et, a lab can be located loca ll y, rath er than so l ly in oth er co untri e or large r
centres, which create complex consequ ence for th e co mmunity (Hall & Broderi ck, 199 1).
For exampl e a methamph etamin e lab create six pound of to ic waste per pound of
methamphetamin e produced (B ergu s, 1997; Bl ac kwe ll &

olm enar, 2000; Lake & Hu ard ,

2001). The resultin g tox ic waste is often nu shed into the sewers or thrown on th e ground.

thereby contaminatin g th e surroundin g environm ent (Lin eberry & Bos twi ck, 2006). A home
which has been used as a methamphetamine lab i fi ll ed with airborn e co ntamin ants from the
chemi cals used to make methamph etamin e (Martyny,

rb , Arbucl le. & VanD yke, 2005;

Martyny, VanD yke, McCamm on, Erb, & Arb uckle, 200 5). tudi e have illu trated that
chi ldren, youth, and adul t who live in a home where a lab is prese nt, ex hibit imil ar ph) ica l

ho direct! u

and p c h l g i a I e fD t a
Lin berry &

o t i k, 200 ; omm er . a kin , &

methamphetamin (Fergu on, 2000 ·
a kin-

mm er , 2006 ).

t 1 re ent, th ere

no informati on n the length f c p ur time in a h m meth amphetamin e lab ncce ary
t pr du ce the e ph n mena. Jl ov.e

r 'detect bl a irbo rn e once ntrati on of h drochl ori c

ac id , i dine. and methamphetam in e v. ill remain \ ithin a tru cturc G r at lea t _4 h ur "
(Mart n . ~ rb.
th ere i
th e c

rbu kl c.

an

ke. 200 . p. l 5 ). , e era I mo nth after a lab is d ismantl ec.l

id ence that mcthamph tamine
k ite (

e . 2.006:

art) n ~.

ntam ina tio n le e l are still high on urface within

an Dyke. 1c amm n. Erb. &

rbuck le. 2005).

Train ed haza rdo u materia l team are requi red to a!c ly dies pose of any hemi ca ls
and

a te. and t dec ntami nate pe pie th at li ed r v.o rked in am th amp hctam ine lab

( o ey, 2006). Fir t re po nd er to lab

uch a po li ce. fire fig hte r , ambul ance attend ants,

soci al wo rker . and ho pita! p r nn I are at hi gh ri sk fo r meth amphetamin e co ntamin ati on
from th eir ex pos ure t t xic air b rn e chemi ca ls (Martyny, ~ rb, Arbuck le. & VanD yke,

2005; Martyny, VanD yke, Me amm on. Erb . & A rbuckle, 2005: McFadd en. Ku b, &
Fitzgerald , 2006: Strang, 2007). A U stud y fo und that some fir t re po nd er to
methamphetamine-assoc iated eve nts requi red treatm ent fo r re pirato ry and eye irri ta ti on;
most, howeve r, did not require hos pitali zation (Ce nter for Di ease

ontrol and Preven tio n,

2000). In one case, three ho pita! empl oyee experi enced nausea and vo miting whil e treat in g
a perso n invo lved in a meth amphetamine lab expl o ion (Center fo r Di ease Co ntro l and
Preventi on, 2000).
Dealers in methamphetamin e empl oy marketin g tec hniques whi ch are si milar to
main strea m bu iness. Legitim ate marketin g trateg ie , uch a giving fre

ampl e , arc

mimi cked by peopl e dealin g methamph etamine (ll arri on, Eri ckso n, Korf. Broc hu , &

14

er the dealer mi ght n t tate whether the am] le

Ben h p, 2007) . H

methamphetamine. orne upcr lab (lab rat ric ' ith the rc

a

urce and equipment to

manufacture meth in tabl et and pill form) combine meth' ith oth er illi it ub tan e in their
manu fa turin g proc

(

4; trang, ~007) th ereb increa in g th e op portunity t

rde t , 2

introduce dru g u cr t methamt hetamin e and it effect .

t ra\'e dance in Vane u er and

ctobcr ~002 and

P ci1e I and teste d pill that were

M ntreal b t\>v een
old a

~ c ta y.

pril ~00 . the R '

nal y. i of the multiple ampl e rc,ealcd that nly a mall percentag of th e

illicit dru g contained pure c ta ) . The remaind r of the pill that were <>o ld a Ecs ta y,
c ntained a ariet

r illicit drug

f' hich methamphetamine wa the most commo n

( ord e te. 2004 ).
han gin g the chemical co mp

iti n

f illicit drug

111

rdcr t increa

co n um er

expos ur to methamph tamine (thereb in crea ing th e con umer market via addiction) i a
trategy remini cent of th o e u eel by big tobacco compa ni e (L

e ll , 2002; Mitchell, 2006;

Wiga nd . l998) . Big tobacco companie targeted children and yo uth (Ling & G lantz, 2002)
through marketin g trategie

uch as chew tobacco 'v ith cherry candy flavouring that was

availabl e in the United States, Canada, and the United Kin gdo m (Love ll , 2002). The taste of
the flav ourin g was stron g enough to last two or three minutes, all ow in g the child to adju t t
th e bitterness of tobacco (p. 38). Some communities in the U have reported trawberry
flavoured methamphetamine, methamphetamine combined with pov dered drink mix
(Gambre ll , 2007) . Some police officer beli eved fla ouring les ened th e chemi ca l ta te or
and poss ibl y calm ed fears of first tim e methamphetamine user (GambrelL 2007).

15

D fining 'ommunity and It. R span es to Methamphetamine

The h alth fa communit r lie h a il
bel ngin g t a gi n c mmunity.

Ludic ha e

n ea h member ex1 ericncin g a en c
h 0 \\11 that

r

oc ial c nne ti n i nc e ar to

the health and qual it of an indi idual' life, \\ hi! the ab ence o f c mmunity i related t an
111crea

ofri k-takin g beha i ur (1 rae l,

McKni ght, 1994; a. e, Reber. 1!all fo r ,
March. & Bontemp , 2007; t rr.

he kovvay, , chul; , & Zimmerm an, 199 ;
adu hin .

rri a. Workman,

J ne . 1997: ,' chwartL, 200 5: , cmcnza,
nth on , 20 04 ). lt i not urpri in g,

then, that e tabli hing c mmunit . both a a geo grap hi c area and a a er icc popul ati on, ha
a long hi tory in

anada ( lark. 1962).

cad mic literatur

ontain , numerou definiti n of what a c mmunity i . Most

peopl e perceive ommunit prim aril y a age graphi ca l area, uch a a neighbo urh
town ( aulkin , Larso n, & Rich, 1993:

d or

alt r, 2006). Howcv r, c mmunity ha horizontal

and ertical frame' ork th at interac t with oth er age ncie or geographi ca l area . !\ hori zo nta l
framewo rk refers to th e interacti on of peopl e, gro up . or orga nizati on . 'v\hil c ve rti ca l
fram ewo rk refers to the relati onship between th e loca l co mmunity and th ose in th e large r
soci ety and culture (Walter, 2006) . The term community is furth er delin ea ted th ro ugh th e e
framewo rks by addin g phrases such as ' th e co mmunity to which we provid e ervice,' or ' th e
community that was dealing with a pec ifi c iss ue' (Humm el, 1996: Walter. 200 6) . In her
di scuss ion of conceptual framew ork of community bui ldin g practice, Walter (2006) di sc u e
ther influ ences used to define community, such a the agency mandate, th e ervi ce
provid er's rol e, and the obj ectives of th e fundin g bodie . The interacti on among the e
vari ous influ ence form a community con ciou ne , which i ' , es enti all y. a more fluid idea
th an th e hori zontal and vertical framewo rk . he co nce pt of co n ciou ne s defin e

16

c mm uni t a the 'percepti n . cu ltural
in t racti on

n tru t , and fram e

rk thr ugh whi ch

ith ne an ther and our en ir nment ar filtered and har d" (W alter. 2006 , p.
ne

i ible in m ral j ud gm nt of de en ednc . p liti ca l d min ance, and

per a nal bi a e .

er implif) in g th e natu re ofc mmunit crea te e, lu ionar y deflniti on

70) .

that

n

I OU

ere n longe r fun cti nal G r

mmunity buildin g.

nee "communit " i defi ned. th e path f interve nti on G r addressin g subs tance usc
need t b ch en. in ce th e beg inn ing in 'anada. com mu niti e have bee n address in g
ub tance u e i ue at a I ca l le el

aul kin . Lar on. & Ric h. 199 ~

Reber, Hall[! r , Kadu hin . & Ja ne . . 1997). Jn 1986, the

ttawa

lark. 1962; ' axe.

barter fo r ll ea lth

Promotion pl aced the communiti e · ··ow ner hi p and c ntrol ! th eir own e nd eavo ur~"
(Labonte, 2006 , p. 82) at th e ce ntre f th hea lth pro moti n strategy. 'ommunity
de elopm ent and co mmunity empowe rm ent are t'A o ba ic trateg ie fo r inter cnti on

111

communiti es.
ln a critical refl ecti on on co mmunity and co mmunity deve lopm ent. Labo nte (2006)
desc ribes co mmunity deve lopm ent as a co mbin atio n of co mmunity orga ni zati on and
mobi lizati on. Co mmunity deve lopment occurs \\ hen " both practiti oner and age ncy arc
committed to broad change in th e stru cture of power relati ons in soc iety th ro ugh the upport
they give community groups" (p.82) . Ag uirre- Ma lina and Gorm an ( 1996). in a review of
co mmunity- ba eel approach es for th e prevention of substance u e, stated th at
"commu nity deve lopm ent hould be th e ult imate goa l of preventi on trateg ies beca u e it
enables individu als and co mmuniti es to increa e th eir control over th e determin ant or hea lth
by secur in g th e too ls (reso urce , skills, auth ority, etc) needed to change th eir environm ent"
(p.34 1). ommuni ty deve lopment attempts to move th e foc us o f ubstance use intervention

17

fr m the indi idual b ha i ur to n ir nmental fa tor
tem "\ ithin a c mmunit (p. 41

nomt

mmunit de el pm nt a the initial tep tO\
emp

erm nt, a
While

ell a the impetu

uch a " o ial, political and
rman ( 1996) vie e I

guirre-Molina and

rd ac hi' in g per onal and

mmunit

rx ll tainab le hange.

n id rin g the relevance of empO\\C rm cnt to commun it inter enti on for

w m n \ ith Ill , eeker.

uenthcr- rey, and Raj ( 1998) defined

mmunit emp werme nt

a 'a n inter

nti n [th at] [ ought] to !Teet c mmunit)-\\ ide change in hea lth-re lated

behavi or b

rga ni zing communitie to define their health pr blcm , to identify th e

determinant of th
chang th

e pr blcm , and to engage in cffecti e indi idual and co ll ect ive ac ti n to

e determinant ,. (p.8

). he community emp \ crm ent paradigm posits that no

beha iour is entirely und er th e

le, oluntar co ntrol of the indi idu al per on (Beeke r,

Guenther- rey, & Raj , 1998).

he community co ntext, a we ll a co ncep t of c nsc iou ne

affects the manner in which behavi our are viewed. The empowe rm ent prin cipl e i
particularl y apt in the stud y by in ge r et al. (2006). Through dru g monitorin g and knowledge
of methamphetamine trend s, inger et al, identifi ed Hartford

onn ecti cut a a po ibl e ite of

increa in g methamph etamin e use. Resea rch ers tarted to empowe r th e co mmunity by
creating awarene s befo re meth amphetamin e use became probl ematic . Although th e stud y is
ongoing, methamphetamine use continued to in crease in that community.
Engaging Co mmunity on Methamphetamine and Substance Use

trategie for engag in g community around sub tance abuse, pec ifica ll y
methamphetamine use, are complex and multi -leve ll ed. ervices and reso urces that are
necessary for addre sin g methamphetamine u e are often viewed a unrel ated by ervice
provid ers (Jobe-Arm trong, 200 5). From a public hea lth tandpoint, there wa a commitment

18

t re p nd t mctham1 h tan1inc u c from

ia l and en ir nm ental per pe live in the

c mmunit (Labonte. 2006). Thi m th d u uall implic a top-do n implementation of th e
public h alth mod I th at ha little re emb lanc t the c mmunit ·. conte. lual reality
( bel

n, 00 I; ibb , 2002;

oluti n b deci ion maker

ozick, _007). The t p do\ n m del r fer to the imJ o iti on of
uch a health administrat r or p lie maker ) with littl e

con id erati n ·~ r the indi idual c ntc. t

r communitic . Ian ' c mmunitie c pcrience a top

d wn method of in lu ion through f rum . lc cu

group~. and interview

Briti h olumbia Mini try f ll ealth crvi e . 200 :
2000: Waitzfelder, ~ ngel. &

ilbert. 19

( belson, 200 I;

ldblatt. ~00 : Parker & ' adbo i ,

). I I \ ever. thi i

ften inclusionary in problem

identification, not in oluti on (Briti h 'olumbia Ministry of Health , 'ervice , 2004;
Halkiti , 2006: Park r &

reen &

adboi . 2000).

Fighting Bock, aU ca e tudy of ten community program with the mandate t

" reduce the demand for alcoh I and other drug by developing a ingle unified ystem of
prevention and treatment" (Lindho lm . Ryan. Kadu hin . axe, & Brod ky. 2004, p. 266)
illustrated that the difference between nationa l needs and community n ed may be
substantial. The funder' natio nal mandate required demonstrable outcomes of deer asing
substance abuse while the Fighting Back campaign wa built one tablishing capacity for
addressing substa nce use within the community (Hallfors, Cho, & Kadu hin . 200 I:
Lindholm, Ryan, Kadushin, Saxe, & Brodsky, 2004). For exa mpl e, street li ght were not
recognized as action to decrease sub tance use on a nati onal leve l ( a e eta!., 200 I), .Jet
in crea in g percepti n of afety and empowerm ent encouraged the co mmunity to continue
addressing difficult iss ues such as ub tance use (Bent, 2003:

au lkin , Lar on, & Rich,

1993). The top down trategy of identirying I ey co mmunity leader and organization \\ho

19
will deli er pr gram and initiati e meant littl if the communit

a n t a ti

in creating and implementing a har d i i n f ub tan e u e inter enti on (
a e Reber, Hallfl r , Kadu hin,

J ne , 1997).

I engaged
zick, 2007 ;

h in and Debru n (2006) p int out,

the t p-d o n model o r oluti on impl emcntati n i unlike! to crea te u tainabl c chan ge
ithin communit .
n ther di friculty ~ ith the t p-d ' n mcth d [ prog ram impl ementati on i th e
challen ge r en urin g that inform ati n reac he it intend ed audi ence. For exa mpl e, according
to the Briti h olumbia

ini try o r Hea lth (2004 ), meth amph etamin e u e wa dec rea in g

am ng yo uth , et cdu ca ti n ab ut meth amphetamin e co ntinu ed to targe t yo uth in sc ho Is.
ing retro pecti e dru g use hi tori c to exa m in dru g u e behav iour among yo un g peo pl e in
a large urvey in Ontari o, De it,

fford , and Wong ( 1997) reported th at th e hi gh-ri sk peri od

for yo uth dru g initi ati on bega n around 12 yea r

f age, with peak initi ati on G r illi cit dru g

occurrin g betwee n 15 -19 year . Th ey furth er tated th at hi gh quit rates arc seen within th e
first few years of use (D eWit, Offord , & Wong, 1997). In an editori al addre si ng th e creati on
of programs for decrea in g meth amph etamin e use, Ritter (2 00 7) tated th at ·' unfortun ately
th e evid ence does not upport their effecti ve ne s in preventin g th e uptake or redu cin g th e usc
of illicit drugs'' (p. 22 8) . l-Ie furth er asse rted th at developin g a strateg ic ev id ence-based
approach "to reduce the production, di stributi on, u e and harm s a soc iated with
methamphetamine" was neces ary (p. 227).
Creating a Methamphetamine Panic

For a c mmunity to d velop a res ponse to methamphetamin , th ere need to be an
awareness of a probl em. ommuniti es are often overwh elm ed with oc ial and hea lth is ues
requirin g recogniti on, fund s, and acti on. Thus, in order fo r a co mmunity to be co ne rned

20
ab ut methamph tamine it mu t be perce i ed a a threat. Th e pcrce1 ti n
a ompli hed in a

ra threat can be

mmunit b e tabli hing c nce rn and fear regardin g meth amph etamin e,

it u e and c n qucn c within th communit ·; in oth er "" rd , co n tru ctin g a pani c
(J enkin , 1994).
cial pani c gcncrall

r II '

im ilar pa tte rn .

ith dru g , pa nic, typi ca ll y beg in

ith p li e maker. and lcg i lat r demo n tra tin g th at a drug is "enjoyin g an c. pl os ivc
grov thin popul arity," r i
e ere ph

"e. trcme l add icti ve·· th at "eve n cca iona l usc ca n ca u c

ica l addi cti on," and i "c ncouragc[i ngl bi7atTC and io lcnt be hav iour" (Jenkin ,

1994, p. 7). The e claim are th u

uppo rted thr ug h i ual rep resc ntati n

f c trcme

e ampl e of addi cti n, uch a th e face of methamphetamine ("Face of meth "; Jenkin s,
1994). Word

uch a "e pidemi c" (conj uri ng vi ion of pl ag ue and un co ntro ll ab le spread of

di ea e) and 'emergin g cri i " ( uggestin g future c n equ ence

\.\I

ill be wo r e th an current

experi ence) further propel th e pani c (J enkin , 1994, p. 15).
Social pani c related to ub tance use were used by th e Prog re sive

onservati vc

party in Canada in an attempt to in crease politi ca l popul arity in 1984 (Jcn en & Ge rber,
1993) . Jense n and Gerb er (1 993) outlin ed a four stage proce

of pani c co n tru ct ion:

incipi ency, coalescence, creati on and poli cy form ati on, and leg itim ati on. Thi process wa
all egedl y used durin g th e 1984 federal electi on ca mpaign to boost Prog ress ive Co n ervati ve
popul arity. Howeve r, the ev idence used to demon trate an increase in dru g use wa often
in conclu sive. Acco rding to Jense n and Gerber (1993), at tim e "aggress ive enforce ment
ac ti viti e "(p. 457) were related more to th e political clim ate th an an actu al in crea c in irug
use or traffi cking.

21

de and B n- Yehuda (I
gr up f peopl

4) di cu ed

m ral pani c a a onditi n, e ent, or

hi h had bee n declared b m ral pr Lec tor , ft en media , reli gi u leader ,

politician and th cr ri ght, thinkin g p opl " p. l 55). to be a threa t t
the per epti n of a

oc iet . B increa in g

ia l threa t_ peop le ~ h ar 1 re ente 1 a in ti ga tor of th e threat are

tereo t pcd and de ianti ze d. ;O de and Ben-Yehud a 199 ) also icl enti fi e three model ~ r
initi atin g a pani : liti t. gra roo ts. and intere ·t gr up . rhc g ra~ ro t mode l e se ntiall y
tat

that ani u \ hi ch ha b en d rmant ha_ managed to rega in publi c attenti n. On ce th e

i ue ha th publi c' intere t. p liti cian . or med ia . ace rba te the i ue in uch a way as to
appea l t th e publi c' co nce rn ram ra l threat. Eliti t m del create a pa ni c
none, i tent or tri ial threat. .. to ga in

er "a

mcthin g of va lu e or di ve r1 attenti on fr m i ~ ucs th at,

if addre ed, \ ould threaten their \\n pri vate intere t "(p. 160). Jnterc t group

uch a

police, profe ional orga ni za ti on , to a large d gree. med ia, act in d pend ently fro m th e e lite
to ex pres th eir own ethic and morals. " Pani c ofte n entail populi t entim ent whi ch sees a
threat as eman ating from po erful, hi gh- tatu

trata. Their ve ry power and tatu s impar1 an

ominous, dreadful qu ality to th eir ca pac ity to harm co mm on, hone t. hard -workin g
folk''(Goode & Ben-Yehud a, 1994 , p. 162). Th e public often di rega rd ed ev id ence whi ch
states that th e poss ibility of harm fro m the threat i minim a l. fn tead, th e drea d of an
" in vo luntary, un co ntroll abl e, unknowabl e, unfamili ar, ca tas tro phi c, ce rtain to be fata l and
delayed in th eir manifestati on" event is embraced a reality (Goode & Ben-Yehud a, 1994, p.
163 ).

The role of the media in panic creation
Although medi a is " responcl[in g] to real -world cue '' (N eum an, 1990. p. 16 1) in th e
repot1in g of methamph etamin e or oth er ub tance use, it is often bl amed or credited \\ ith

rn ti galing pani

. Th m diad

n tin ent

opini n through th pr entati n of the e
an i ue r ach
publi ' ith

cnt ; ho e er, it

n n innu en e publi c

nt r i u ( bel n, 001 ;

the attenti n o f the medi a. medi a then initi ate a\\ arenc
mm ent on th i ue (

th e e enl, the pub! ic, th e g

um an, 199 ).

eum an, 1990). On c
b , aturatin g th e

c mbination of intcra ti on betwee n

ernm ent, and th e mcd ia i nece , ar to create th e perccpti n o r a

ri i for an

u tain d peri d. For g \ crn mc nt <;. I ca l agcncie . and c mmunity gro ups,

medi a (in it

ari u ~ rm ) i th e m t a mm on meth od of in crea in g methamph etamine

awa rene .

lth ugh th ere i littl e e\ i len e to indi ca te th at media ca mpaigns arc effecti ve in

pre entin g melh amphelamin u e (Ri tter. 2007), it rema in a pop ul ar lrateg for informin g
and edu ca tin g the publi c of th e haza rd a ociated with meth amp hetamin e usc (Briti sh
olumbia Mini tr of Hea lth

r ic . 2004; Ritter, 2007; Waitzfc ld cr, Enge l, & Gil be ri ,

1998).
eum an ( 199 0) id entifi e fo ur wa

th at medi a pre ent ev nt to ga in pub! ic

attenti on: cri i , symbolic cri i , probl m , and non-problem .
a beginnin g, middl e, and end , durin g

en 1

impl y mea ns th ere i

hich tim e the medi a attempt to draw th e pu blic's

attenti on to th e event by examinin g it from many di f ferent angles ( eum an, 1990).

nli kc

substance use, whi ch has no definiti ve end , wa r fa ll under thi s catego ry, as do co urt trials,
and natural di sasters. A symboli c cri si i unli ke ly to have re oluti on yet th ro ugh "a
co mbinati on of events and th e responses of th e governm ent, the pub! ic, and th e medi a [led ]
to a public definiti on of th e problem of cri is propo iti on for a limit d peri od of time" (p.
169). To catego rize methamphetamin e as such wo uld onl y wo rk in th e initi al pha e of
awarene s as ubstan ce use i an ongo in g i sue. Probl ems ca n e peri cnce pe ri od of udden
change whi ch are simil ar to cri ses ( uch a un empl oyment or inn ati on \\ hi ch are reported

2

with regularit with uta tuall c ntainin g a t r lin e). Th ere are re1 ea ted attempt to rai
inter tin probl m through c mple p li

and ec n mt

theo ry but without a clear

endpoint. The diffi cult v ith meth amph etamine, r any Jther ub lanc e abu e i sue, i th at it
fall int the categ r o f non-probl em or a Ia tin g

cial pr bl cm with littl e publi c interc t

(N euman , 1990) . M th amph etamin e perh ap i a yml li e cri is: hovve

r, it rare! ca pture

the publi · att nti n for long, a th ere i no foreseeab le re olut i n. Pro in ial strateg ies
(Briti h olumbi a Mini tr

[ I! alth , crv icc , ~00 ), fo rums r fundin g ann o un ce ment

(Mini tr of Publi c 'a f t and oli citor ' cncral, 2006) \\ hi ch addrc

meth amphetamin e use

may hold public intere t ~ r a h rt time: hO\\.C cr. th e are not u tain ab lc ( cum an, 1990 ).
Afedio A dvocacy in ( 'o mmunif) · Responses

Wallack (200 6) uggest d th at th e u e of m e di a ~ r advocac

hifted the foc u from

individu al beha iour to oci al and h a lth poli c . Effecti ve medi a advocacy entered on th e
ability to arti cul ate the goa l fo r change ( tanton, 2004; Wa ll ac k. 2006). A co mmunity whi ch
was empowe red with the ability to begin poli cy change had th e potenti al fo r sy temati c
tran form ati on which affected not onl y the indi vidu al but al o environm ental change such as
methamphetamin e precurso r (ch emi cal ) leg islati on and sa les (Aguirre-M a lin a & Go rm an,
1996).
Vega and Roland (2005) and Cox and Cunningham ( 1998) demonstrated crea ti ve
meth ods for workin g effectivel y with media that increase d publi c awa reness and
inv olvement. Cox and

unnin gham examined a media-l ed campaign whi ch addre ed

substance u e by in creasin g invo lvement and inve tm ent ~ r co mmunity age ncie .
Co mmunity members paid a reduced price for adv erti in g th ro ugh spa n or hip of dru g and
alcohol free eve nt and the co mmunity coa liti on (Cox & Cunnin gham, 199 8). These

24
initiati e

111

rca d attendance ate ent and in c tment in the

(2005) D und that deferring c

HlV and c nd om u
in ol ement.

t and p oling re

e ll a prese nting me age ab ut

in a m rc 1 o iti e and eve n hum oro u li ght. increa ed co mmunit

ega and R land r c mm end ed th at an e\ a luati on c mp nent b in cluded fro m

th e b gmnm g f an initi ati e fo r two rca
econd , t

urce , a

mmunity. Vega and Roland

n : fir t, to pro ide c idcnce of change; and

tabli h a ba eline of c mm unity kn \\ ledge regardi ng th e i uc before th e

campaign b gtn .
A sse, sing Comrnunity

eed

e ment of meth am1 hctamin c and ot h e r ~ rm of ub tance ab u e 111 a
community co mm on I D cu
2 007 ). Dru g dea lin g (a nd it a

n \\h at i , lacki ng in th e co mm unity (Kretzmann & McKni ght,
ompanyin g envir nm ntal effe t ) i

ee n a de monstrating

the vi ibilit of need in a neighbo urh ood ( aul kin , Lar on, & Ri ch, I 99 ;
200 3). Crim e stati ti c ( aulkin , Lar on, & Ri ch. 1993:

oetz & Mi tc hell ,

oe tz & Mitc he ll , 20 03),

HlV/AtD rates (Vega & Roland , 2005), and oth er indi cato rs of meth amph etamin e
addicti on, such as child\ elfa re repot1 (Covey, 2006) often prov ide asse mcnt of th e need
for reso urce . Demon trating need is neces ary in ord er to acquire th e fundin g needed to
in crease reso urces and opportuniti es fo r the co mmunity to addre s meth ampheta min e ab u e
(Saxe et al. , 2001 ).
One challenge with assess ments based on need (a nd th e acco mpanyin g
reco mm end ati ns) is that the reso urce and tim e nece sa ry to reach impl ementatio n and
demonstrate effectiveness are often inad equ ate ( tim on, Fitch, Ball , & Rh ode , 1999).
Assessments are often perform ed by academics who e pro po als require more fun d th an are
ava il abl e, and require knowl edge tran lati on for th e inform ati on to be u eful at th e grassroots

25
le el ( tim

n, Fit h

all, & Rh de , 1999) . ln additi n ri g r u in e li gati on require time

that hind r the communit in addre ing th immediate i. uc ( tim
Rh d , 1999) .

n ther rili i m of need a

Funding av ard

Cten co me to c mmuniti

helpl

ne

[! cu

on pro in g help le ne
n detailin g the

Ia

cKni ght. 2007).

c mmunit ' Ia k o f ability (Kretzmann
dcm n tratin g the lac k f ability t ad drc

ment i lhi

n, Fit h, Ba ll , &

ot nl i fundin g given for

co mmunit i ·uc \\ ith current reso urce , but

d mon trated ia th propo al may a tu all in rca c the fundin g gi en to a

communit (Kegler, T\\ i , & Lo k. _000: Libby. 200~) .
John McKni ght ( 1994 ),
ln tilute at

rth we tern

-direc tor f

ct-Ba. ed

ommun ity Deve lopm ent

ni vc r it in lllin oi . tatcd that b th th e hea lth system and

community coa liti on /as oc iati on are nece ary ~ r co mmunity hea lth and we lln e . Th ere
need to be a rec gniti on f the gift of co mmunity (McKni ght, 1994 ), in ord er to build
ustainability into co mmunity effort , an id ea whi ch

oz ick sugge ted in , o Place Like

flame (2 007). Many co mmLmiti e need to j in tog ther to addre s ubstance use by fo rmin g

coaliti on (Kretzmann & McKni ght, 20 07 : Maye r, 2002). In ome co mmuniti e , the
coaliti ons presented long term strateg ic for addres in g ervice i ues (Libby. 2002), r
erved as a vi sibl e presence advocatin g for change (Cox & Cunnin gham. 199 8). In oth er
communiti es, trategies were short term with little impetu to co ntinu e th e coa liti on beyo nd
current initi ati ves (Jobe-Arm strong, 2005: Wein gart, Hartm ann , & Osbourn e, 1994 ). FosterFish man et a1.(2006), in a tud y of the initi ative, Yes ~Ve Can! (a mini -grant program with
staff support to enco urage co ll ecti ve ac ti on) asse rted that coa liti on member req uired
ca pac ity building in order to acces fundin g opportunitic , as we ll a mentorin g and upport
to fee l includ ed in the proces , patii cul arl y in th e initi al ph a es (L indh olm , R) an, Kadu hin,

6
a e,

Br d k , 200 ). Brin ging t geth er di er e ector

f the ommunit

uch a

bu in s , I cal go crnm ent , and oa liti n member , reated c nfli ct whi h wa diffi cult and
Ill

me a e tmp

ibl c too ere me (ll allfor ,

Kadu hin , 200 I: Li bby, 2002;

h ,

)fllmunit in c lu i n 1 n ce ar for

indh olm , R an, Kadu hin , a, e,

Br d ky, 2004).

u e ful change at all leve l · ho\

er, in ome in tancc 111 (.; 111 her need to ee an initi al

change befor the ar willi ng t in e. t ti me and effort (

a ul k in <~, Lars

n,

Rich, 199 )

27

Thi ca e tud focu d on under tandin g th c nte, t of indi idua l , erv1ce ag nc1e
and rga ni za ti n with r ga rd t inform ati n pr \ id d to th e public about meth amph etamine
ithin a in gle ettin g, Prin e
characteri ti

eo rge, Briti h olumbi a ( i enh ardt , ~ 00 2). Th e main

f th eca e tud meth d i th e u e f da ta fro m multipl e ource (, take, 1995;

Yin , 1994); thi permit tri angu latio n th ereby in c rea ing the ~y a Jidit of th ere. ea rch.
he ca e it elf i an e ami nati on of publi inG rm ati on about methamphetamin e in
Prine

orge. ro m thi p int forth . th e c mmun ity of Prin ce

th e conceptu ali zati on f co mmunit by a cap ita l lette r, as in

co rge i cJ i ffere nti ated fro m
~

mmunity. The re ea rch focus

o fthi stud y i hea lth . not a an utco me, but a a renec ti on f ' mmunity awareness fth e
potential ri k of meth amph etamin e u e be fore u e reac hed a criti ca l ma . Thi s resea rch
focu had three component . Fir t, th e re ea rch ought, through a tim elin e of publi c
in fo rm ati on about meth amph etamine, to determin e if a pec ifi c event nece sitated in fo rmin g
the public about meth amphetamine u e and any co n equ nee \ ithin Prin e

eo rge. , eco nd .

th e resea rch attempted to clari fy \ heth er there \ a a co mprehen ive effort by Co mmunity
agenci es to inform th e publi c. Finall y, th e re earch in vesti gated the age nd as in vo lved in
informing the publi c.
Ofthe six so urce of data identifi ed by Yin ( 1994) as co mponent of a case tud y,
four we re used in thi s tud y: docum ent , archi val reco rd s, interv iew and parti c ipant
observati on (p. 80) . Th e oth er two so urce of evid ence, direct obse rvati on f behav iour
(whi ch was un attainabl e due to lhe hi stori cal nature of thi s ca e lud y, p.86-87) and ph

ica l

artefacts such as too ls, wo rks of art, or oth er ph ys ica l evidence (p.90), we re not re leva nt to
thi s resea rch. oc um ent u eel includ e letter , age nda , meetin g and rorum minu tes. media

28
article , and pre

II a

r lea e , a

uch a tran cription

ftel e

document that' ere r

ie' ed ontain

ther d cument that' er pertinent to there earch

ion id o lip , and ab

fb

k and id eo .

rchiv al

r parti ipant \.V ho attend ed meth amph etamin e

informati on or a tion forum a we ll a funding di bur emcnt [ro m th e pro in ce. Final! ,
inter 1e

ere c ndu cted v; ith

ommunit member .

Parti cipant b cr ati on n te 'A er take n at l\\

meth amphetamin e awa rene s eve nt

Yin (1994) ca uti ned th at parti cipant-ob er er data co li c ti on ma introdu ce bi a in three
way : th e re ear her' parti cipati on in or au

cacy o r th e i ue; th ere ea rcher beco min g a

upporter of the group : and/ r th e re archer' in uffi cient n te tak in g n th e va ri ou
per pective du to time co nstra int (p. 89). Hov.eve r. th e pos ibility f bi a is typi ca ll y
balanced by medi a acco unt andre ea rch pa ti icipa nt inter iew whi ch al o desc ri bed th e
events, all of whi ch are u ed to balance eac h oth er.
The stud y u ed purpos ive sa m piin g in whi ch parti cipant elec ti on wa predetermined
by criteria relevant to informing th e publi c about methamph etamin e in Prin ce Geo rge (G uest,
Bunce, & John so n, 2006) . The goal was to interview a many peo pl e in vo lved in informin g
the public about meth amph etamin e as poss ibl e (Guest, Bunce, & John so n, 2006). Through
repeated menti on in th e doc um ents on meth amph etamin e in Prin ce Geo rge as we ll a
recommendati ons from oth er resea rch participants, indi viduals involved in informin g th e
ommunity and /or th ose who were kn owl edgea bl e about methamph etamine or ub tance u e
were as ked to parti cipate in an intervi ew. Th e research participants ranged from exec utive
admini trator , to frontlin e service pro vider , to form er methamph etamin e u er . Per

ns

acti ve ly in vo lved in methamphetamine u e were al so so ught for an interview: hm'Ve cr. no

29
lun te r came h rward , and thi id a wa aband n d. -- thica l a1 pr
I ing human ubj ect pri r t th e int r iew ( cc

re

R le ant d

um ent and inter ie\

al

pp cndi

\\ ere ana l zed eparatcly.

th en ombin ed to re eal a tim e lin e fm cthamph tamin c aware ne

a re eived for
l ).

II inform ati on wa

in Prin ce

e rge.

um ent v ere u edt va li da te th e in ~ rm ati on in th e inter iev" (Y in , 1994) through th e
pr

i ion f co ncrete date . Inte r ie\\ ad ded a dep th to th e in forma ti on ~ und in

docum nt d data and cr ated a full er unde r tand in g of meth amphetam in e trend in Prin ce
e rge.
Doc ument vv rc fir t grouped int the ir re pect i e ca tego ri es i.e. medi a reports. Th en
content analy i \ a empl ;ed to sort incident in to theme . Once th ose ite ms we re
stabili zed, th e data wa re- orted to determ in e if th eme were stab le. Durin g th e th emati c
anal si of the docum ent , a predomin ance of conce rn provok ing or pani c wo rd descri bin g
methamphetamin e wa n ted. A ll doc um ents we re th en examined for the u e of pani c wo rd
These word such a e il, and epid emic we re co unted accordin g to type of doc um ent . Thi s
anal y is all owed th e info rm ati on to be so tied into th e major meth od of in fo rm ati on de li very;
such as creatin g or co mmunicatin g pani c. In ad d iti on, the pani c wo rds occ urrin g in med ia
doc um ents we re co unted by yea r of menti on. Analy is futi her co un ted th e men ti ons into
yearl y qu arters to determin e a tim e Iine of panic wo rds about meth amph etamin e.
Themati c analys is was determined to be more appropri ate for analyz in g the intervie\\
data. In additi on to repea tedl y li tening to th e reco rded interviev. , tra nsc ri pt of th e
interv iew we re read and reread. The re ultin g th emes represe nted an und erstandin g of
envisioned meaning, fro m en ing th e importance of fragment s or co n\ ersatio n, to the o\crall
experi ence o fth e inform ati on about meth amphetamine ( ae lli , 2000; Willi. , 200 1).

nalysis

0
of the inter iew found multipl e Ia er
rge whi ch r

f infi rm ation and dcc i

nated in imil ar e pen cnce thr ughout the

n makin g w ithin Prin ce
mmunity.

T
Docum nts
M ethodolo?J

he preliminar inquir foc u ed n invc ti ga tin g when inC rm ati n n
methamphetamin e be ame a ail abl e to th e publi c. l hi
in e ti ga ti on ofth e o

ea rch rapidl y beca me an

rail in ~ nn atio n n meth amph tamin "' usc in Prince

eo rge, which

,, a av ai !abl e t th e publi c up t Dec mber l , 2007. Initi all y, fourteen ' ommunity ·erv ice
orga ni zati n were c ntac ted in ord er t req ue t inform ati on on \\ Orks hop , inform ati on
e ion , pamphl et , etc. foc u in g on meth am ph da min e ( ee Appendi ). Doc um ent we re
rece1 v d from one co mmunity age nc .
Local databa es, in cludin g th e Prin ce
Reso urce Librar , the

oil ge of ew

co rge Publi c Library,

aledoni a Li brary, th e

orth ern I lca lth

ni ve rsity of

orth em Briti h

Co lumbi a Library, reso urce library for choo l Di tri ct 57, Prin ce Geo rge Free Press, Prince
George Thi Wee k, Prin ce George Citi::.en, Vanco uver Sun, The Province, and Prin ce Geo rge

City Hall , we re sea rch ed usin g th e fo ll ow in g criteri a: crys tal meth amph etamin e, crys tal meth ,
amph etamine, methamph etamin e, and Prin ce Geo rge. eventy-e ight docum ents, archi va l
record s, intervi ews, and notes of direct ob ervati ons we re found. The earli est refe rence
appeared in the Prince George Citizen in 2000 and th e mo t recent one wa fo und in th e
Prince George Free Press November 30, 2007 .

The Prince George Citizen database yield ed thirty-two arti cles fittin g the criteri a.
Database for both Prince George Free Press and Prince George This ~reek revea led no
res ults. Thi s return seemed hi ghl y unlikely: th ere fore, mi cro fi che reco rd s \\ ere cro referenced w ith th e date from th e Citi ze n with no res ult . Per onal readin ......g res ulted in t\\ 0

2
arti I

cond carch add ed n further atiic le . Databa e for the

fr m th Fre Pres. .

Vancouv ' r , un and Th e Pro\ ince returned a ingle atiicle that menti n d methamphetamine

in Prince

eorg

Prince

orge Tele i ion (P

) id e clip dating hack t 1999 pro id ed forty-

eight 1 o ibl e id e clip but nl y e en th at fit the re ea rch criteri a. Tran cripti on of th e
clip \ ere in luded in th e anal\ i. .

ear h o f th e Prin ce

corgc ' it ll all databa')e fro m

1997 t December ~007 re ulted in G ur findin g. pertainin g to meth amph etamin e. Du e to
internal polici e r ga rdin g th e relea c of pre iou I aired prog ram at ' anadi an Broadcas tin g
orporati n ( B ), neith er tran cript nor ab tra t
were avail abl e B r thi

B

Radi o Prin ce Geo rge shows

tud y.

earchin g th e Prin ce
the College of

f

eo rge Publi c Library, th e

orth ern Il ea lth Reso urce Library,

w Ca ledoni a Library, the Uni cr ity o f orth ern Briti sh olumbia Library,

and the reso urce library for ch oo l Di tri ct 57 database re ulted in ne vid eo fro m th e
Prince George Publi c Library and eve n vid eo and one boo k fro m
Re ource Centre. The

choo l Di tri ct 57

C Library had thirtee n re ource whi ch in clud ed repoti , teac hin g

guid es, books, and vid eos.
Al so inc luded in the analys is were patiicipant ob ervati on notes fro m th e 2006 Briti h
Co lumbia Solicitor General' s Meth amph etamine Forum in Prince Geo rge and a Meth Buster
prese ntati on in 2007 (" Meth campaign launched", 2007) . To be as th orough a po sibl e, nonacad emi c website were scanned usin g th e G OGL E internet sea rch engin e. Of the 14,000
res ults only four fit th e criteri a.

Anal ' lS
Med/(/ Topic.

Prine

e rge media pr duced thirt nine do ument whi h fit the earch parameters.

T ent eight appeared in the Prince Georg' 'itizen, i on Prince

eo rgc Telcvi i n, five in

the Prince 'eo rge Fre) Press, and one in the Vancou•· 'r Sun. E. am in ati on f th e e media
d cum nt

produced~

ur theme : p Iicing. hea lth . c mmunit)'. and pro incial.

Policing

rti le th at ei ther origi nated\\ ith or had quoted the R
them . There \\ere four ubtheme
inform the Prin

t

1P comp ri ed the 1 olicin g

the p Iicing theme compri eel of the

trategie u eel to

eo rge publi ab ut m thamphctamine: enforceme nt, pre cntio n,

legi lati on. and orga ni zed crime. The enforcem nt ubth eme dealt \v ith arre ts and charge
in ol in g methamph etamin e. M t item pre ented informati on from this point of view
includin g the fir t large methampheta min e lab di cove red in

orthern B (Peebles, 2007b).

The prevention ubtherne focu ed on role mode l , soc ial cau e of methamph eta min e u e,
and harm reducti on. One item spec ificall y discus eel marketing strateg ic by dealers and poly
drug use which had not been previou ly menti oned in conjunction with methamphetamine
(Peebles, 2006b) . Although the RCM P believed " ham1 reducti on should not be the fir t
meth od of prevention" (Peebles, 2006 b). police obv iou ly saw harm redu cti on a part of their
role .
The legislative ubtheme was comprised of media articles about tougher entence for
drug dea lin g and bylaw D r c t recovery. Th e bylaw chan ge were an atte mpt to hold
landlords accountable for activities on their rental propert y, specifi ' all y grow ops and drub
lab (Peeble . 2004a). Whil e th e Feclerallegi lator we re happ y (Peebles, _Q04a) ,, ith

4

tr ng r enten e and enforcem nt [or methamphetamin in ol d crime , the R MP were
cone rned about the n \ I gi lati n ince th
v ith lh

han ge (Peebl

r g1 en n additi nal re ource to dealt

, 2007 b).

he final ubtheme 'Aa orga ni zed rim e and th e r le it pia ed in methamphetamine
and oth er drug problem in Prin ce

e rge:

I d n' l think there i a ingle Cree lance drug dealer. ·1he tree t dea ler may not
r a!ize hi or her conn ecti n but i r you go up the ladder of where th o c drug
come from, it i n't I ng berore 1 u run into orga ni zed crim e a th e sou rce (8
stat d by R MP

uperintendcnt B. ' lark in Pecb le , 2005c).

1-Iea/th
The econd theme of the med ia item \a health , the public information provided by
th e Northern Hea lth Authority and Alcohol and Dru g Pr ve nti on. A

rthern J lea lth

manager claimed meth ampheta min e u e peaked in 2002 and wa actu all y declining (Jan,
2004) . Yet in 2005,

orth ern Health Youth Dru g Preve nti on started an 1\nti-Meth campaign

against the "dan ger-cand y of choice'' (Peeb le , 2005 d) . In 2007, methamphcte1mine was
desc ribed in th e Prince George Citizen as an epidemic ("Meth ca mpaign lau nched", 2007),
whil e Northern Health Youth Drug Preve nti on taled th at Prince George ee med to have
reach ed a plateau in methamphetamine u e (Peeb le , 2007a). In 2004 (Jan, 2004), the
Northern Health Auth ority stated they were "we ll ahead of th e rest of th e province" in
addres in g meth amph etamine issues, ye t it was not until 20 05 th at\ e saw "peop le hake
methamphetamine addiction"(Peeb les, 2005 d) .

t a tim e when

orthern Hea lth management

tated th ey were takin g an vera !I yslem appr ac h to methamphetamin e, there . ecmed to be
a lack or c he i n within the sys tem itse lf. Du e to methamphete1m ine education, "dealers had

5
t

w rk at

llin g [methamphetamine] " (Peebl

methamphetamine

a

2007a).

till the drug f h i e in

In 2005 , initial eli cu i n

t the ame tim e,
and on the treet (Peeb lc , 2007a) .

h

f meth amphetamine effect

cc urr din relation hip t individual

populati n (b th main trea m and hi gh ri k), the lab , and orga ni Led crime (Pceble , 2005 d) .
The in~ rmati on \ hich \ a 1 r

idee! bv

orthcrn ll ea lth manageme nt nnd fro ntlin e taff

appear , up n e amination, t be eli j int d nne! c ntradict r).
Co mmunitv

The c mmunit theme re

aled a hil't that c urred in the pre entation of

methamph tamine information from 2004 t 2007.

ntil late 2007, de criptivc lang uage uch

a eleva tatin g, pidemic, th e extreme examp le of homele ne , and face of
methamphetamine we re u eel. In
methamphetamin e awa rene

ove mber 2007, an advert i ement pre ented

in an inD rmati onal format ( 11 rystal meth ... it' in ou r

community: be aware! 11 2007). The "faces of meth " was repl aced with a picture of two
teenage girl leanin g on each other. Th focus on vio lence from methamph eta min e u c in
previ ous yea rs appeared more subtl y through ame page inform ation on Ph oe ni x Tran ition
Society ("a reso urce for women and children who were in ab usive situ at ions"), and loca l
Liberal MLA s ("pl ease talk to yo ur children today abo ut the dangers of cry tal meth''). Up
until 2007 , much of the methamph etamine awarene s focused on prevalence.
Provincial

The provincial theme was made up of docum ents about th e olicitor

enera r

meth amphetamin e forum , fundin g, and Mini try o f Children And Fa mili es. Pro\·in cial
methamphetamine forum s supported ommunity and schoo l ba ed programs that address the
" meth crisis" ([ cebl es, 2006a). Alth ugh the fo rum was to give the public ''a clear sense or

6

what thi dru g i d ing n I al tr et
on methamphetamine u
t th

and pr

alence were fr m th L

forum it wa ann unc d that e

wa to be eli bur d am ng all 8
it wa c n id erabl y le
th fundin g

(P ebl e , 200 a) , th e pert

ralmilli on d li ar

c mmuniti e ; h v e er,

h

p I e at the G rum

er Main land (Peebl es, 2006a) .
~ r meth amph etamin e initiative

hen thi fundin g wa eli tributed

- ten-th ou and d li ar 1 er co mmunit ( oulik , 2005). Furthermore,

a a eed grant to tart a pr gram or an ac ti ity to targe t meth amph etamin u e,

not u tain ed r long term hange ( ' ulik, _oo ). In reascd fundin g ll oca ti n for hea lth
treatm ent and

r 1ce bud get\ a not eli cu eel .
A b.\ tracts. Agency and Gm·ernmen f documents

A bstracts

Mo t re ource doc um ent abstrac t rev iev. ed in Prin ce

e rge librari es used pani c

word s to info rm the publi c about methamph etamin e. For e ampl e, the offi cial abstrac t for
ry tal M eth (Harrow, 2007) tated that it pro vid ed '' inform ati on about th e dru g crys ta l

meth , explaining what it wa , describing its effect on an addi ct' ph ys ica l app ea rance, mind ,
and body, and di scus in g the co nsequ ences of cry tal meth abu e." Yet, a a Prin ce George
resource, th e boo k's ab tract descripti on rea d: "[thi s pamphl et] di sc u se [d] th e effects and
dangers of crystal meth and its damag in g phys iolog ica l effect on th e mind and body." Pani c
words such a dan ger, harsh rea lity, horror, epidemi c, wrec ked li ves, and phra e like
"sweepin g across

anada at an alarmin g pace" (Davi s, 200 5) and "se nsiti ve viewer may

have troubl e watching thi s program " ("Ruin ed li ves: the dan gers f meth amph etamine",
2003) appear in so me form in alm o tall ab tracts.

7
Communi! Planning ouncil

um nt fr m th Prince

e rg

mmunit Planning

ounci l ( P )

demon strated a lear plan f engagement G r methamphetam inc av a rene

(Florey 2005 b) .

idcr , ge nera l publi , and bu inc

were intended to

Meetin g with ke I ader ,

r r omm endati on and/ r aeti n "(F lore , 2005a).

re ult in a"

lid plan

forum. the

P " a no I nger in

Prince

fter an initial

lvcd in implementing the c; trategic plan or informin g the

e rge publi . Rather, the orga ni ati on, umm ari e , rep rt , and minute from all
n v r n "' ~ cu ed on y uth , rath er than the

di cu

1

note

howed that nl y in the criminalju tice gr Llllll g were pecific pers ns w illin g to enact

the action item .

ommunit . The action pl annin g

thcr action theme con istently li t d "v luntec r from the co mmunity''

who acted upon the yo uth agenda. Both th M th Watch pamphlet ( DMA ') and
Enforcement Agency (D A)
the people attending

Dru g

lert (Drug nforcement Admini trati n 2003) we re given to

P meetin gs about methamphetamine. Both 1 amphlet so ught to

increa e bu ine s cooperation by focu in g on th e dange r from methamph etamine
production . While Meth Watch di scu ed increas in g cooperation bet een law enforcement
and bu iness, the DEA Alert used panic language to link criminal activitie to bu in ess
losses.
Prince George City Co uncil

Although th ere were five menti ons of methamphetamine" ithin the 2005 to 2006
Prince George

ity ounci l minutes and agenda , there was onl y one di cu ion about

methamphetamine . A mem t c unci! a ked for as istance towa rd mee tin g pace rental or
printin g cost" hould the need ari e" (Madden, May 23, 2006) . Two Prin ce George agcnci

8
(Nati e ri nd hip

entre and t. Patrick ' Il u c) had ubmitted appli ations G r the

pro incial c mmunit grant G r methamphetamin pr gram .
orfh rn ff, a/th Authority

II of the

rth ern ll ea lth

uth rit document \-vhich eli

methamphetamine u c incorp rat d the outh theatre
methamphetamine pamphlet (Briti h olum bia

0 1111 an

u eel dru g pre ention and

. ' treet , pirit . Both

1n1 tr of ll ca lth , ervice , 2004) ant.!

pregnane pamphlet ( r U\ er et al.. 2006) avo id ed u ing pani word and judgments
r gardin g meth amph tamine u c.
Regional CoJ?lerence on JV!ethwnphetcrnnne

he Regional onferen c n Meth amph eta mine offered work. hops for crvJcc
provider ("Regional conD renee on methamph etamine". 2007), and yo uth ("Regi nal
conference on methamphetam in e: Youth program", 2007) . ervice pr vid cr inform ati on n
methamphetamine includ ed emergenc y res pon e to meth amph etamin e use. mental hea lth
effect , and recogniti on of a meth amph eta mine lab. Youth we re engaged in unique
work hops such as hip hop and multim edia; they also participated in a preparation work hop
to "develop a coll ective voice'' for eli cus ions between yo uth and ervice provider , focusing
on " ideas and in sights a well as rea li stic oluti ons.'' Although there was a repo rt wr itten w ith
recommendati ons from thi s conference as stated by research participants. a copy has not been
located.
Government Documents

Th e pr vincial resp nse to crysta l methamph etamin e co ntain ed some fear ba eel
lang uage such as "c rys tal meth ... is a dangero us choice" and a "horribl e drug" ("Speaking
notes for th e li on. Shirl ey Bond" , 2006) ; hm eve r. th e maj or it or information in the

9

p akin g note D cu eel n th e new
eli eu ion f pr

incial

h alth eurri ulum ~ r ch

l . Ther wa no

ho l c l ure during the meth amphetamin [! rum , even th ough an

e pert from th e I v er mainl and eli cu eel the necc it of acce ptance and afc cho l to
enhance th e protccti e fac t r for tud ent to re i t dru g u c.
Meth amph etamine m arenc c;; initi ati e made it apJ ear a if new money wa
a ail able for addi cti on
[n lead, pre cnt r
go

upp rt.

u ha

hi rl

et add icti n trea tm ent did not recc i\ e nev fundin g.
8 nd and the , oli it r

enera l re iterated th at th e

rnm ent pent billi on eac h year n menta l hea lth and addit io n . The meth amph etamin e

in itiati e \ h ich wa

t up t pro vid e te nth u and do ll ar to every co mmunity in Briti h

olumbi a wa managed th ro ugh fundin g app li catio n . not free ly given to eve ry co mmunity.
Two Prince Geo rge age ncie appli ed fo r and re e ived grant .
Summary

The type of meth od u eel to inform th e co mmunity about meth amph etamin e we re
important in influencing th e publi c' perception. A graph of th e re ults revea led whi ch
age ncy docum ents used th e most pani c wo rd s when info rmin g th e publi c. th ereby desc ri bin g
wheth er the maj ority of th e info rm ati on on methamph etamine use was pani c crea ti on or
fac tu al inform ati on (See Appendi x 2). Initi all y, th e Prince George Citi:::en seemed to ha e
used th e most pani c wo rd s (1 .29 word s per doc um ent). Howeve r, th e rati o of pani c word
was hi gher w ith PGTV (2 .75 word s per docum ent), Prov in cial relea e (2.2 pe r doc um ent),
and Schoo l Di stri ct 57 (2 per document) .
pon furth er e amin ati on of the number of pani c wo rd s a majo r in crca e in 2005 \va
revealed (3 1 menti ons). Thi anal y i all owed the time!in c of methamphetamin e-related
pani c wo rd s about to be vi ibl e (sec Appendi 3). In 2005, th e num ber or pa nic \\ Ord more

0
than trip led fr m 2004. Thi e alati n eem t indicate that an agen

r per on wa

champi nin g r peaking ut ab ut methamphetamine u

!nler vie11'S
Me!hodoloy:y

Inter ie\

were one of the m

t important

urce

f inform ati on ~ r thi ca c stud y.

emi- tructured, p n-ended qu e ti n \\ ere th e mo t ad antagc u (Yin , 1994) . ommunity
member were n t I im it d in length r breadth f th cir rc p n e .

lth ugh qu e ti n and

prompt \ er pre-d e igned, the prompt ' ere n t ften u ed a c cry attempt wa made to
ensure acti eli tenin g, and th rough n t takin g to max imize data co ll cc ti n (M aso n, 2002).
Re earch participant r c ived an inform ati on pac kage pri or t th e interview whi ch
contained all form th at we re peti in ent to their pati icipati on (sec Appendi x 4). Precedin g th e
intervi ew confid enti ality and anonymity we re disc u sed to en ure inform ed co nsent (M a on,
2002). R earch participants had the opti on of hav in g th eir transcript return ed to th em for
comm ents.

ix ofth e s ixteen resea rch parti cipant re iewed co pi e o f th eir transc ript but no

changes were requested. Intervi ew often occurred in th e parti cipant' s offi ce and th e
meetings ran ged from ten to nin ety minutes . Gills we re given fo ll ow in g th e interview tn
recogniti on of the tim e and know ledge shared by the research patiicipant . A shoti repo rt of
the findin gs was offered to all resea rch participants.
For anonymity, th e intervi ew , reco rd ed on compact eli c , were num be red \\ ith the
key doc um ent co ntaining th e research parti cipant' s name and co ntac t in fo rm atio n in a
separate database (Tri-Co uncil p olicy stutement: Ethicul conduct for reseorch im 'Oh'ing

41

humans 200 ).
oll ab rator

II tran crib r

h

igned c nfid ntia lit agreement . In addition, th e peer

alidat d ana l i categ rie

ign d a confidentialit agreement.

Re ear h patii ipant v.ere initi al!) coded b th eir r le within th eir )rgan iza tion
( e

pp ndi , 5).

he e categ ne

'A

ere till to r ea ling ' hen quoted inc njuncti n with

a 1 ecifi agen y. ThereG re, re ea rch participant are cited a re carc h participant (RP) u tng
a

d number.
Ana(vsts

Fir t, a de cribed b Yin ( 1994), the initial 'Ca n u edt he interv iew que Li ons a
categorie . Re earch participant data '' a

cparatecl into th e fi e que tion re ponse and th en

compiled" ithin the matched que ·ti on ( re \'ve il. 200 ).
1.

Wh en do yo u reca ll fir t becoming m arc of crys tal methamphetamine?

2.

Wh at do yo u reca ll of our organi zat ion' s react ion t cry tal
methamph etamine?

3.

Wh en do yo u reca ll first discu in g the po ibl e impli ca ti on of cry tal
methamph etamin e for the municipality of Prince George?

4.

What wa th e prec ipitating factor ( ) that made yo u and/or yo ur orga ni zat ion
want to inform th e pub! ic about crystal meth amph etamine?

5.

How did yo u and/or yo ur organi za ti on choose to inform the public abou t
crysta l methamph etamin e?

Grouped in thi s manner, a tim eline of methamph etamin e in Prince .eorgc \\ a , created.
eco nd , the intervi ew data wa exa min ed for overa rehin g theme acros the que tion
categories. Third , re earch parti cipant data wa exa min ed in relati onship to there earch

2

que ti n

f

ho h

, and

h the Prine

e rge public

a inB rmed ab ut

methamphetamin

• umm ory
nal

f int r iew data re ea lcd th e ~ II ' in g th me : di c nn e ti on and

marketin g. Within th e th eme f di c nnee ti n, th re " ere ubth eme
hori z ntal eli

f erti ca l and

nnecti n. R le id entifi ca ti on \H I a ub tanti a l c ntributor to horiLo ntal

eli conn e ti on' hi h \ as r l ant to a di . cu i n f th reaso n for hori z ntal eli co nn ec ti on;
et n it

V\

n, it pr

eel alm

the interview v ith ubth emc
marketin g effec ti en
ef~ cti

t irrcl VL nl. 1arke tin g wa a predominant th eme throughout
f marketin g meth amph etamin e and meth amph etamin e

a \ ell a marke ting pre enti on and preve nti n marketin g

ene . La t, \ a th e tim e line f meth amph etamin e in Prin ce

eo rge a revea led by

th e re ea rch participant
Disconnection

Lack of continuity, or eli co nnecti n, of meth amphetamin e info rm ati on was th e first
th eme of the interview . This di sco nn ecti on appea red to have both ve rti ca l and hori zo ntal
subth emes. The vertical di sconnecti on subtheme referred to th e di s imil arity in kn ow ledge
within th e hi erarch y of Co mmunity serv ice prov ision and the pub! ic in Prin ce George. The
hori zontal di sco nnecti on subth eme was th e inco n istency of inform ati on fro m age ncy to
agency. Difference between se rvice age ncie see med to make sharin g inform ati on
seco ndary to meeting th e needs of mand ated popul ati ons.
Ve rlicol Disconnection

The vetii cal eli co nn ecti on subtheme, or the inco nsistcn y of meth ampheta mine
awa renes , mov d both up and down from th o e v ho we re mo t info rm ed, namely th e

4

fr ntline

r tee pr

ider .

ard mo em nt referred t e

r tc pr vider , while th d v n ard m
[In 2000] the hi gher up .. .at M F
Dev I pment] be au e" e

cuti e and admini trati e

em nt referred to th Prin e
[Mini tr

f

eorge pub lic.

hi ldren and Fami ly

ere M FD at that tim e ... we

ere told that "if

meth 11'as really a prohl ?IJI she would hm ·e heard ohoul itfi·om Vic toria by
17011 ' ",and the

e en) uth that\.\ ere hard ore meth use r th at we had in th e

pr gram did n t ee m t influence that )pinion (RP OO I).
Vertical! , er i

pro id er e. p ri enced methamphetamine inver different way . Fr ntlin e

worker con id ered methamphetamine a eri u i ue th at needed immediate ac ti n; ~ r
e uti e admini trati n, h \ ever, it appeared unrelated to th eir mandate of service (RP002).
By 2003, the majo rity fparticipant were a\\are ofme th amp hetamin . In 2005,

orthern

Hea lth had ''d i cu ion with manage ment table and planning tab le and confe rence table "
(RP015). At a hi gher e ec utive leve l, there wa littl e awa r ne

a recently as 2007 (RP00 2).

However, thi s may have been more reflective of rising nee d, rather than ignorance. Most
participant stated or impli ed they we re ove rw helm ed by th e leve l of need wi thin th eir
mandated populations and agenda (RP 005, RP007 , RPO 10, RPO 12, RPO 14, RPO 15).
The final popul ati on that was engaged in di scu sio ns abou t methamphetamin on
February 2, 20 06 in Prin ce George was the public. Most research participants w re not
actively edu catin g the public, prefe rrin g to devote energies andre ource to their mandated
service populations (RP005, RP007 , RPO 10, RPO 13, RPO 14, RPO 15). Withou t information
from serv ice orga ni zati ons, the publi c appeared limited in th eir knowledge and , thu , in their
ability t take ac ti on.

4
florizo ntal Di. anne lion

The hori zo ntal di co nn cti n ubth cme \ a a1 parent in that th ere
c n

tent m

ag ab ut m thamph tamin e fr m th e er i e pr

a id entifi ed thr ughout th e inten ie
ommunit re p n e.
and o

rwhe lming need

as not a

id er.. Meth amph etamine

a on 1 ue am ng man th at d mand ed a

th er c mpe tin g i ue \\e re h mele ne , lack of hea lth ervtce ,
f th e re earc h part icipa nt 'ser 1ce p pu lati on .

!though

meth amph etamine wa co n id ercd prob lematic, it wa un clea r t what c tent it affec ted th e
ommunit .

me admi ni trat i c researc h pati icipa nt be li e ed that methamphetamin e u e

had n t affected Prin ce
prov id er di

eo rge in a major wa :on the th er hand, mini mu m barrier erv tce

u ed igni fica ntm ethamp hetamine use among the ir p pul ati on. .

Minimum barrier er ice provide r

xp re ed co nce rn and onru ion abo ut th e

perc pti on that meth amphetamin e \\ a no I nger a threat (RP007, RPOI 2). Yet, th e mo t
comm on statement fro m minimum barri er serv ice prov iders wa th at staff was not train ed to
dea l w ith the in crea ed violence (RP OOS, RP 007, RPO12, RP O14 ). The udde n d i co nn ecti on
from long te rm meth amphetamin e-u in g cli ents created confu ion. gri ef and, in orne ca es,
fear among serv ice prov id er . However, thi rea lity wa appa rently not addressed th rough the
local ve nu e of kn ow ledge d issem inati on such as fo rum , wo rkshops, or co nfere nces.
Role Perception

A lthough ro le percepti on did not meet th e criteri a of a subth me, it\ as a ubstantia l
co ntributor to th e hori zo ntal di sco nnecti on subtheme, both by th e se r icc age ncy it elf a
well a by oth er age ncies. Although th ere wa a mand ate for service provi ion for each
resea rch patii cipant, th ere also seemed to be a ro le a perce ived by oth er agencic . The ro le

45

percepti n fa
111 e

r i e a gene wa difficult to identif

t thi

a pect a1 peared in trumental

a erbating h rizo ntal di c nnecti n.
n

ample f role perception\ a

chool

i tri ct 57 in Prin e

eorg . _. r choo l ',

the mandat v a to du ate hildren, and at tim e \ ithin that rea lm , to addre

1 ue

uch a

methamphetamin e u e that hind red learni ng. ·'The cho I (did] ha\ ea r le to play there; it
lat i n. It canno t be the fi

[did] n t ha e a role t pia

111 1

was a percepti n of ch

a the approp ri ate arena~ r educating children on a var iety f

c mmunit i ue including ub lance u c. II 'Ae er, ch
mandated fun ti on not pr

it G r e er body" (RPO I 0). There

I curri culum delivery wa th e

i ion of inG rrnation ab ut ub tance u e.

ven though frontline

r i e provider had little free tim e or re

ommunity ba ed prev nti on planning, orn e er 1c pr

urcc to devote to

ici er perceived th e role of an

authority to be not onl one who wa r pon ibl e for pre entin g informat ion to th
ommunity, but al o to provid e or ugge t so luti n rega rdin g methamph eta mine and its
consequence .
There was concern from one agency that a frontline se rvice age ncy [ hou ld
be] the prim ary gro up head in g thi [event] . . . Whil e they may have been
experienced wo rking with the client base, they we ren' t qualifi ed rea ll y to do
plannin g. What came out of it wa not omething anyone could rea ll y work
with (RP006).
Service providers did not posse

th e ex perti se or reso urce which were nece ary to lllO\'e

the agenda of meth amph etamin e awarenes beyo nd spec ific foca l population , and reach the
entire ornmunity.

6
t time

the credibilit of informati n urr unding methamphetamin e u e wa
mmunity wa

r Iat d to r I 1 er cpli n. One of the be t e ample of r I percepti on b
th R MP .

lth ugh th ir mand ate of cr ice \'v a p !i cin g, there were man pr gram in
mmunit whi ch\ ere p n ored b the R '

R

RE ( ru g

bu c

tance du eati n), a pre enti n 1 rogram deli creel by th e R M P in ch o I
hen [the age nd a \'v a ] dri\ en b th e c mmun il), it [beca me jmore
ace ptabl e becau e it [v\ a ] n t th e '' man" r th e g \ crnm ent sa in g yo u ca n' t
do thi . It [v a ] co min g fro m oth er in ti rmed ouree that ay, " if ou do thi s,
thi i \ hat \viii happen to )O u·· (RP 009).

The R MP age nd a of crim e redu cti on through in formati on pro ided to yo uth about
ub tance u e vva regard ed a credibl e and appro pri ate fo r children and yo uth .

n th e oth er

hand , ervice prov id er regard ed pro in cial initi ati ves w ith su pi cion (RP O15).

ve n though

th e Pro incial initi ati e targeted ub tance u e edu cati on at children and yo uth (RP009), th e
government wa perc ived as hav in g a hidden age nd a (RPO OI, RP 007), not as ca rin g about
the Community.
Conflict in role perce pti on was vi ibl e in the u e of out id e expe rti se in prefe rence to
Community-based know ledge. Co mmunity prov id ers we re vi ewed a ex pert in Vanco uve r
and other communiti es, and Prince Geo rge serv ice age ncies frequ entl y so ught expert
informati on about methamph etamin e use fro m out id e north ern Briti sh Co lum bia. ome
providers (consid ered loca l ex perts) arti cul ated, howeve r, th at th eir ro le was to in fo rm th eir
own mand ated popul ati ons, not the publi c.

7
Marketing

The th m , marketing,

a defined a 'th pr ce

f planning and

utin g the

oncepti n, pri in g, pro m ti n. and di tributi on of id ea , good , and er i
e

han ge th at ati f indi idu a l and rga ni7ati onal goa l ··( Kee fe, 2004). Th re
ubthem e

ere two

rmarketin g: th e marketing rdru g ' and the marketin g o r a cri i rega rdin g

methamphetamine. B th the ill ic it dru g and the preve nti n marketin g campaign had e ffects
on th communit .
Marketing J'vte thamphetomine

Th e ubtheme fm arke tin g meth amphetami ne wa dru g dea lin g r lra fli ck in g.
Marketin g trateb ic created ad

ire fo r a produ ct (in thi s ca e, meth amph tamin e) and , if

they did th eir job co rrect! , trateg ie in crea ed de ire n e th at mark t wa e tabli shed. A
with main stream bu sine , th e goa l of marke tin g

a to max imi ze profit . For the mo t part,

marketin g wa popul ati on- pec ifi c. One of th e target market wa th e yo uth in sc hoo ls, often
with other yo uth dea lin g methamphetamine and oth er dru g .
" How many of yo u if yo u wa nted to co uld get meth , co uld get cry tal meth '? '' I
think th ere we re about two kid in the roo m that didn ' t put up th eir hand .
Then I sa id '' How many of yo u if yo u wa nted to could get it in less th at half an
hour?" About half th e kid s still had their hand s up .. . [that showed] th ey co uld
buy it fro m somebody w ithin the schoo l ri ght now (RP OOI).
The availability of methamphetamine in choo l stro ngly sugge ted th at the dea ler we re
other yo uth . Se llin g methamph etamin e within the schoo l al o ugges ted a trong
relati onship to impulse buyin g. In additi on. there eemed to be an in ves tm ent in peer press ure
or " fittin g in" as a marketin g too l (RPO 19) .

4
ru g dea ling al
tated b

had t include the r ducti n fharmfu l percepti n

fthe product.

n re ear h parti ipant, the be t d terrentt methamphetamin u
f methamph tamine n

wa seem g

me u er (RPOO I). 1 l we er, metham1 hetamin e

marketer nega ted harmful perce pti n b

w1n g th er y uth wh o did n t e, hibit ign of

m th amph etamin e u e· om marke ter al

referred to meth am1 hetamine by anoth er nam e

(RPOO I) . The pee r to pee r marketin g \v a ab ut re lati n hip and tru t. . ome o f the
participant 'co mm nl ab ut meth amph etamine referred to th e relati on hip betv ee n th e
cli ent and " their" dea ler. v.hi ch indi atec.l a tru t re lati n hip imil ar to main str·eam bu in c
(RP00 5, RP 007 . RP O18 . RP O19) .
l'd b talkin g to pe pie in my ffi cc[w ho we reJu sing meth and I was hearin g
thin g lik ·'oh it' no wo r e th an ma kin g p t''. Y u [wo uldJ have alm a t
wo rd for word the ame co mm ent fro m i diffe rent peopl e and when yo u
di ve into th at a littl e bit yo u find out th at th ey' re all from th eir ource fo r th eir
drug (RPOO l ).
ltimately. the repetiti on of pec ifi c phra e by c li ents to serv ice prov id ers indi cated th at
tru st was u ed to increase meth amph etamin e market and thu profit .
Eve n wh en dru g dealin g marketin g in vo lved chan gin g the name of th e dru g. for
exampl e from speed to crystaL or mi xing methamphetamin e with oth er dru gs. the key to
continu ed profit was th e co nstru cti on of a relati onship bet\.veen bu ye r and se ll er (R POO I,
RPOO S, RPO 18) . A th e tru st wa s es tabli shed (and , po ibl y, addi cti on was crea t d), th e
methamphetamin e user was more likely to be open to a relati onship of e, changin g dru g hr
profit or personal use. A promotion to dea ler may be related to how co nn ected the
methamphetamin e user was to pos ibl e market (RPO 18, RPO 19).

49
hem
indebt dne

em nt from melhamph tamin e u e t addict i n creat d a en

t the dea l r. The indebt d per

n wa then

market. M thamphetamine marketing had grovvn int

f

pi ited' ithin the illicit drug

rgani zed crime that eemed to

mcrea e ther criminal acti itic .
ne da thi '

man i I

u, in g or add ict [and] c me in badly beaten ove r a

drug debt. 1\ o weeks later. 5hc might be the ne beating on some ne or
intimidating omc n e l e bccau e he ha lto pa ] rent. .. it ' n t spec ifi c to
cr

tal methamph eta min e but it eemcd like it v a ge ttin g much worse at the

a me tim e. It part of the trat g; to have c cry nc indentured into that
organi zed crime. Y u \\ e a tv\ cnty dollar drug debt; yo u're going to have to
w rk that

ff in om \ a (RP007).

Many activitie surpa eel mcth amph tamine market in g to include the ale of other dru g or
violent activitie , yet, the tru t relation hip between dealer and user that wa e tablished
durin g methamph etamine u e eemed to till exist. Organized crim e act iviti e

uch a drug

dea ling, intimidati on, and prost ituti on, used the dea ler-u er relation hip to expa nd drug
traffickin g (RPOOl, Rp007 , RPOl8 , RPOI 9).
Research participant became aware of some of the effect of methamphetamine
marketin g through either profess ional or personal e perience. Methamph etamin e effects were
different from those of other illicit dru g in term s of behaviours pre ented.
Some of the kid s who hadn ' t ate in a number of da ys coming in and th e food
go in g literall y ri ght through them where th ey wo uld oil th emse lve . They
would not make it to the wa hroo m ... we didn 't understand that was part or

50

them n t eatin g ·~ r da

d n 't kn

... th at wa

what i g in g on and th

In additi on methamphctam in c u
found li ent r lati n hip
lf v e had to dra

tmpa tful t our taff . .. and [

uthJ

are ca red (RPO 12).

changed th e per ona I ity f th e u er . , er tcc pr vid cr

ignifi ca ntl altered a

io lence became more promin ent.

an kind of line aro und their be ha i ur or th eir c ndu ct, it

\ a th ugh \\IC \ ere ta lking t

orn e ne that \vC had no pre-c istin g

re lati on hi p \ ith ... We had alway bee n ab le to re i on ha in g s me ort of
pre- xi ting hi tory and \\Orking relation hi1 ... long ta nding cli ent th at
we r j u t un plu gged and io lcn t (RPOO ).
Fo r er ice pro id er , cha nge in their client \'vere ofte n un e pected and un ex pl ain ed.
lac k of in C rm ati n abo ut meth amp hetamin effects, in cludin g violence, ec hoed
throughout th e in te rvi vv and left mo t ervice prov ide rs d pe nd nt on th e intern et or med ia
for kn ow ledge:
We had one yo uth at the tim e tha t wa an honour ro ll stud ent th en he started
to slid e. Th en wea l o were co ncern ed beca use there i not a lot of informati on
out there, she was pregnant. o what we re th e impli cati ons to th e fet us? And
th en oth er kid on it ... we' re not so mu ch about info rmin g the publi c as
trying to get info rmed ourse lves, and th ere was n't a lot of in fo rm at ion out
th ere (RPO 14 ).
Lac k of kn owledge co ntinued to tretch th e abilitie of ervice prov id er as
meth amphetamine effects on mental hea lth in creased.
One of the things we had a rea ll y hard tim e with wa thi dru g' · effect . The
behav iours th ey were hav ing, we re th ey dru g effec t or \ve re the menta l

51

health i ue ? That

a hu ge becau e

e had d ne

me in h u

trainin g but

n t t that le el (RPO I 2).
mpt m of meth amphctam ine u c brought p ch log i al a se menllo the ~ re front of

.
.
er Ice pro 1 10 11 .
A,fethumphelam ine

Th

furk cting E.flecti, ·eness

ubtheme f meth amphctarn in c mark ting cffcc li cnc

(a dcterm ined by

idence o f in rea ed dru g u c) \ a demon trated th ro ugh di s u ion of th e impac ts on
rvtce pr
Th

are icker ph

ica ll y ... in auditi on to mental hea lth , ub lance u c kind

f mea n there i al o lot of I IlV/ 10, i ue . hepatiti s, a lith e things th at
goe al ong

ith dru g u e. ab ce e , and all kind of thin g . Incredibl y poo r

dental hea lth , with th e cry tal meth their teeth arc just damn near go ne. Lots of
it i from th e meth but lot of it i not have any ... acce s to lot of ervices
(RP007).
When I tarted doin g thi s wo rk twe lve yea r ago . we had ... a so t1 f biker bar.
Th ese guys we re doin g what they were doin g but they didn ' t co me into my
environm ent .. . [so metim es] th ey wo uld come loo kin g for so me wo men th en
1' d go and ay 'ge t the hell off the property'. It didn ' t bother me and l wa n ' t

wo rri ed ... I wo uldn ' t do that now in th e sam e way . .. there are several ga ng
in town th at are obviously into th e whole dru g trad e but its co mpli cated our
wo rk imm ensely. The wo men th at come to us used to be more ea il y
identifi ed as the victim (RP00 7).

52

metime the i lenc i aggre i n t ward the taff.
m re r that. Like ' f.- k

here' be n a l t

u, ou f ing c' and g ttin g di respe tfu l hard !

happened be~ re ... it' about their dru g u e , it' ab ut organi zed crim e, it
about our back are again t th e wa ll,
on equence

e ha e nothin g (RP007) .

f methamphetamine u e ra nged from ph y i al illn e , t vio lent ocia l

interaction \ hich were c mpl icated b th e co nte, t f the li vc of peopl e who use d
methamphetamin and ther dru g . Meth amph etamin e effec t cr ated a ve ry different reality
for erviee pro i ion th an had bee n pre iou I e, peri enced.
Marketing Pre,·ent ion

In th marketing pre enti on ubthcmc, medi a wa a marketin g to I a we ll as a
bu ine

which old inform ati on. Initial! in 2000/20 0 I, meth amph etamin e was bri e ny

mentioned in medi a, t pi ca ll y as a dru g th at wa preva lent in crimin al ae ti viti c or in
difficulti e with yo uth . Media marketin g did not ga in ignifi cant momentum until 2004 at
which time ··we did ... our ve r ion of bi g expos itory pi ece ... th at cry tal meth was
involved" (RP00 3). Thi wa not to impl y th at m di a did not have an interest in

ommunity

wellne s; however, its business age nda ma y have innu enced th e promoti on or
methamph etamin e a an is ue. Alth ough medi a was a maj or co ntributor to in creas in g
methamphetamine awareness, the first publi c inform ati on forum about methamph etamin e in
Prince Geo rge did not occ ur until Febru ary 2, 2006 .
Th e BC So licitor General's Meth amph etamine Forum wa part of a
meth amph etamin e awa reness and inform ati on gath ering initi ati ve sponso red b the
provincial go vernment . The forum res ulted fr m an initial ga therin g of Co mmunity
stakeholder in an e ffort to co mpel a co hes ive res pon c to methamphetamine (RP007). l'h i

5
wa an c ample of marketin g methamph etamin pre enti n.
brou ght methamphetamin to th
U

ptCI n.

[! r fr

the pro incial go ernment

nt, the go ernment' moti ati n wa viewed with

tated b one r earch participant,' when ou're een in the publi a eith er

g vernment or ervtce age nc

u' re

rt f labell ed with an agenda" (RP006) .

nlike the

interdepend ent relati n hip bet\ ee n meth amph etamin e co n um er and their lea ler , th ere
a little tru st at1i cul atcd fo rth g

ernm ent.

Pre enti n marketin g crea ted t\ o di ve rge nt te\\1

ne in whi ch meth amph etamine

v a the hi r e il in the ub tance hi era rchy, and th e th er, where meth amph etamin e wa ju t
one f man

ub tance . The " meth i e iI" tandp in t e pres ed by th e r rov in ial

gove rnm ent e med t ca u e a determ ined pu ·h by er ice age ncie to broaden th e age nd a.
Minimum barri er er i e age ncte

aw mo t of their popul ati on u in g meth amph etamin e,

ye t ervice prov id er ex pres ed th e iew th at lac k of ervtce , not meth amph etamin e use, wa
the main i sue (RP OOS, RP006 RP008 ). A Ith ough meth amph etamin e was a sign iII ca nt
probl em for minimum barri er se rvice age ncie , poly dru g use made it imposs ible to targe t
methamphetamine specificall y in an interve nti on (RPOO l , RPOO S, RP008). The Prov in cial
focu on meth amph etamin e use, co nstri cted too ls deve loped by th e Mini try of Edu ca ti on as
well as Prince Geo rge service age n c i es~ a more ge neral foc us wa needed. Marke tin g
prevention was not as clear as dru g traffi cking. Th e provincial me age was abstain fro m
meth u se~ th e community mes age see med to be th at meth was one issue among ma ny, uch
as po ly dru g use and lac k of hea lth servi ces for ub tance u er , whi ch all needed to be
addressed in marke tin g preventi on (RPO I 0, RPOO I) .
Re ea rch patii cipants oft en co mm ented that the preva lence of methamph etamine u e
was uncertain . ome ervice r rov id ers ex pre sed th eir beli ef th at methamphetamine u e \\ as

54

tabi li ing rat lea t n t a pr blemati a other c mmunity i ue (RPOO I, RP009 , RPO II ,
RPO 13).
er IC pr

ther pro id r de ribed witne in g an in r ase in 1 eo pie u ing methamphetamine .
icier

ic\ eel th le el of hard hip in Prince

methamphetamine u e. a e. acerbated b pre i u g
er ice (RPOO , RPOO , RP007, RPO I 0).

orge. includin g

ernmcnt cut to frontline and hea lth

any cr IC C pr

ici er were ove rwh elmed by th e

mcrea ing h alth need of their population
Th inf rrn ati on pr
con

tent with

ided abo ut methamphetamin e and it efTect did not cern

ommunity concern .

There' a focu on cr

tal meth be au c mcth i maki ng it clfa foc u . The

more it ' in th communit . the more the police have to face it. th e more the
health profe ional hav to face it and th e mor th e tea her have to face it.
The more if go in g to be on everyb ely' radar creen (RP003).
The RCMP tated crack cocaine ca used more poli cin g is ues. chool Di stri ct per onnel ai d
methamphetamine i sue di ffe red from sc hoo l to schoo l.

rthern Hea lth employees

reported increas in g mental health i sue . Community serv ice pro vid ers had differing views
on the preva lence and seve rity of methamphetamin e use in Prince George. For ome,
methamphetamine was no longer an iss ue (RPOO I, RP009 , RPO 11 ); whil e for ther ,
methamphetamine u e and con equenc es were still a predominant i sue for erv ice provision
(RP007, RPO 12, RPOO S).
A major tool for marketing preve nti on was funding. At th e oli citor

eneral" Fo rum ,

seed fundin g (ten th ousa nd dollars) wa to be giv en to every BC community that
impl emented a pro gram for methamphetamine u e and awarene .

55
l ha e been pre ented v ith m m

area

a in g v hat

fr m n n-pr fit organization in oullying

e pre ented to them

t recent community con ultation or

addiction revi \ i the ame thin g \ e a ked for in 1974 ... th ere
realignment of rc

urcc to actual! ge t on with 'lome

ill be a

r th e recommendation

but I ha e . ome ccptici m a thi i not ye t a po liti ca l e. crc i e that i backed
up\ ith re ourcc (RPO 15).
Ther \vere no er ice enhanc emen t annou ncc menL, uch a an rn rca e in th e number of
treatment bed or coun c ll or , at the forum. I'hcrc were t\ o ignifi ca nt diffi culti e with u in g
funding initiati

a a method f addre ing methamphetamine u c. hr t, meth amph etamin e

a not nece aril a diffi ulty in e ery community. eco nd , the one-tim e seed gra nt did not
increa e th

u tainability of er ice to addre

meth amph etamin e; thu , th e ann oun ce ment

s emed more political than upporti ve.
Funding with sin gle i ue focus, a w ith meth am1 hetamin e necess itated that
Community agencies continually redefine their service in ord er to mee t requirement
Service providers were willin g to adju t description of events, programs, or ervices to
ensure a component match ed the funding co nditi ons (RPOO I, PR007 ). Thus, determining the
prevalence of methamph etamine use (or even efficacy of initiati ves) was prob lematic .
Provincial funding initiative were unabl e to address issues caused by methamphetamin e and
substance use in a su tained mann er. The Northern Hea lth Authority seemed a hampered by
funding issues as frontlin e service provid ers. Th ey too , identified increa in g hea lth need at a
time when provincial hea lth fund s were being cut (RP005, RPO 15). The co n traint

n the

Northern Hea lth Authority were uch that plannin g for additional funding did not exist

(RPO 15). Northern l leal th Auth rity fund co uld not adequately adore. s men ta l health and

5

addi ti n

pr

i i n to Prince

init iati e fo r methamphetamine pre
pre i u I cut b the pro in cial g

e rg , let al n all f northern 8 . The

ommunity

nti n had n t rep l ed th fund for service pr vi ion
crnm nt.

Pre vention · farkeling Effeclir eness

Th

ubtheme o f pre enti n marketin g effc ti cnc s re ealcd that in Prince

pro incial fund en abl d erv1 agc n JC to in c rca e a\ a rene
thr ugh onG rene

effecti ene

of meth amph etamin

and publi c inf rm ati on . e i n . 11 v. e er, it v.a diffi cult t mea ure
rea

n . Fir t, a majo r diffi culty wa h w to

~ G r e, ampl e th ro ugh hea lth

utco me . crim e ~ ta ti ti c , r anecdota l

the efficac of pre enti on marketin g for tvv
a e

eo rge,

informati on. 'econd, th ere \ ere three main p pul ati on requirin g asses ment: th e targeted
group , th e i ibl e, and th e in vi ibl e popul ati ns.
population was a ll

nlike dru g traffi ckin g in whi ch th e target

ommunity member and profit indi ca ted succe fulm arketin g,

prevention required compl ex definiti ons in ord er to a ses effecti ve ness .
A convenient and popul ar approac h for preventi on marketin g wa to targe t choo l
stud ents for methamph etamin e awarene s and preventi on initi ati ves. Whil e yo uth may have
ex perimented with meth amphetamin e, most did not end up on th e street or li vin g with
addiction . Further, yo uth who had succumbed to methamph etamin e addi ction u uall y I ft
schoo l o if th e interventi on was not effecti ve, th at youth could not have report d thi s
outcome. As a trend indicator, the decreased meth amph etamin e u e am ong yo uth ' ho
attend ed schoo l was mi sleadin g (RPOO I) . Not all yo uth we re in need o r methampheta min e
prev nti on (RPO l 0) . In fac t, broader sub tancc use age nda \ ere more suitab le a \\ as
indicated at pro vin cial plannin g tabl es.

57
Pre en lion marketin g t the i ible p pulati n of people u ing m thamphetamine
eel ubpopulation of th

111

FIIV/

, mental and ph

eat hi gh ri k ~ r omplicalion

f ub tance us , such a

ical hea lth i u ; man u er v ere treet in olved. When

eli cu in g mark tin g pre enti on e!Tec ti vene , ome er ice pr

icier found that

methamphetamin e u e had signifi ca ntl y decrca eel (RPO II. RPOO I, RP009) . Yet, minimum
barrier cr ice pro icier. \ ere fru tratcd at the c c lu i n of th eir reality which included hi gh
rate of meth amphetam in e usc among their p pulation (RP 007, RPO 12). The need within
th ir

r ic populati on

acce

other er ice until they \vanted t

\\ 3

o en\ he lmin g.

an meth amp heta min e co n um er did n t

ut do\ n, quit or were in extreme need of medical

r 1ce . Additi nail . the u e f multiple minimum barrier ·ervice increased th e probability
that an inter enti on \ a delivered r peat dly, thu innating the data collected.
Marketin g pre enti on effect i ene

wa virtua ll y impo ibl e amo ng the invisible

populati on of main strea m methamphetamine user . For exampl e, main tream wo rkers in
natural reso urce indu stri es used meth to increa

th ir ab ility to work longe r hour and thu

increase their net wage. " He was doing meth and working a a logger in th e bu h ... th e idea
of someo ne who i doing meth hand lin g a cha in saw is just scary ... he is working lor bonu
so he is go in g for more money" (RPOO l ). Measuring interv enti on efficacy was impo ibl e
while this population remained invi sibl e.
So me prov id ers tated that methamph etamin e use in Prince George seemed to
stabili ze, yet there appeared to be no doc um ented ev id ence to support uch a claim (RP O12).
Decreased meth amph etamine use may have been entirely unrelated to prevention acti ity.
In tead, witne in g the visibl e symptoms of chroni c meth amph etamine use. such as iolencc

58

or phy i al and mental health deteri rati n eemed to ha

det rred many pe ple from tryin g

n encouraged e at ion f methamphetamin u

melh or

The b t a er i n inform ati on th at ou get [i J from ju t talking to ome ne
h u

it ... there i an o ld a ing th at '

en junkie d n' t tru tjunki e ' and

j unkie think meth hea d are ra7) ... e ac tl \vhat happened in the 70.

(RP OOI).
n accurate pi cture fth e pre enti n marke tin g effcc ti' cne
an

\va not demon trated through

dotal e id ence of dee r a ed r tab iliLed meth amphetamin e u c.
eth amph etamin e marke tin g cffect i cne

community' re pon

tem

c uld be mea ured via th e strain on th e

u h a hea lth , minimum barri er crvices, treatm ent, and

policin g. Hovveve r, calcul atin g pre enti on marketin g effec ti ene s

a co mpl ex. Effec tive

methods for a e in g total methamph etamine u e or preventi on effi cacy among th e se parate
and di stinct popul ati on (targeted, visibl e. and in vi ibl e) of Prin ce Geo rge did not seem to be
ava il abl e.
Timeline of!l !ethamp he!amine in Prince George

Most research parti cipants identifi ed awa rene s of methamph etamin e as a prob lem in
2000/2001. During thi s peri od. many parti cipants we re workin g or invo lved w ith se rvices in

whi ch few (if any) access restri cti ons ex i ted (esse nti all y, minimum barri er fro ntlin e
services). Although so me of th e resea rch parti cipant wh o id entifi ed methamphetamine a a
problem in 2000/200 I we re in management or admini trati ve pos iti on , their ro le did not
ensure dec ision makin g autonomy. There we re always oth er leve l of co n iderat ion: Youth
Dru g and A lco hol Preve nti on was under th direc ti on of Mini stry of Chil dre n and Fa mily
Deve lopm ent, for exa mpl e. No t until 2004 was th ere menti on of )O uth ear ly int n ·ent ion

59

pr gramming in the

rthcrn Health

Plan): 200 ~ -06 to 200 7- 08 , 2005) .

uth rity (Ifealth servic redesign pion (Busin ess
g ncic and program whi h er iced the

methamphetamine u in g r o1 ul ati n v ere cparate and li tinct from ach other. Thu ,
h riz ntal di connecti n inhibited the recogniti on of th e impa t fm ethamph tamin e
through ut th e

mmunity.

[ntcre tin gl , in ~004 th e majo rity f the dated doc um ent (7 of ll) we re c n ern ed
' ith p li 111g 1 ue

uch a arre L, law . and b) Ia'

. Th e bulk of po li cin g iss ue were

related t pr r rt holdin g , uch a th eft or bu in g a h u e formerl y u ed as a
methamphetamin e lab. Fev

f th e doc um ent

ee med co nce rn ed w ith meth amph etamin e use

it elf a a pub Iic harm . In add iti on, th e e ca lati on of pani c w rd in 2005 va lid ated res arch
participant ' ie\

th at th e initi al appea ranc o f meth in Prin ce

eo rge in 200 0/2 00 I was not

perceived as ca u e for alarm .
nother v i ibl e trend whi ch emerged th ro ugh th e tim eline wa a co nn ecti on between
methamphetamine and wea pons. In th e medi a report , menti on of meth amph etamin e
combined with oth er dru g and. more spec ifi ca ll y, gun , beca me more co mm on from 20 03
up to the end of 2007 . T he docum entary ev id ence co rroborated research parti c ipant
di scl o ures of gan gs and ga ng related violence in creasin g in relati on hip to th e dru g trade in
Prince George. Additi onall y, ev id ence of arrest for multiple drug pos e sions supported
research parti cipant statements: " it' s so co nn ected with all that po ly dru g use and peo pl e arc
using anythin g they can get th eir hand s on" (RP007).

0

Evidenc of Methamphetamin

!though e tab Ii hin g pr
r

alence f m thamphetamine wa n t a tatcd go al of thi

arch it wa a maj or p int f di

u i n thr ugh ut intervie\

provinc , methamph tamin e wa a ignifi ant prob lem a

and documents. T the

how n through both governm ent

d cum ent andre p n e (co mmunity grant and chool pr gram de el pmcnt). ll owevc r,
d cumentary e idence, andre earch participant omm ents indicated that methamphetamine
wa n t the epidemi prop
In 2004, the 8

ed b the province.

oroncr

pro ince with 4 being in Prin ce

'er icc tatcd th at th ere 'Ac re 174 illi cit dru g dea th in th e
eorge (" 8

A lth ough 3 ut of9 d ath in northern 8

erv ice Annual Repo ti 2006").

occ urred\ ith methamphetamine pre ent, thi s did

not indicate that metham phetamine wa th ca u e of death nor that th e death occ urred in
Prince George (8
Coroner

or ner ' erv ice, 2005). fntere tingly, death by illicit drug in 8

("BC

ervice Annual Report 2006") howed that th e majority of deaths occurred between

age 31-50, not yo uth under 20.
In British Columbia Youth IIeolth Trends : A retrospective, from 1992-2003, Tonkin
(2005) stated that "folkl ore or myths surroundin g so me forms of substanc e mi suse may
outpace the actual behavi our ' (p. 19). Tonkin al o stated that methamph etami ne u e in BC
was declinin g. The 2003 Adolescent Hea lth Survey (Katzenstein & Li ebe L 2004) revealed
that 7% of Northern Interi or students indicated ha vin g u ed amphetamines as co mpared to 4
percent in there t of the prov ince (p.16). Howev er, "havin g us d amphetamine "did not
mean methamphetamin e use or continual use. Oth er studi es indi ca ted a ignificantly hi gher
use among tree t in vo lved yo uth (Tonkin, 2005). ll wever, thi street invol\cd resenrch
origin ated from urban co mmuniti es in outh ern BC ("Bet\\Cen the Cracks: ll ome le ·s) outh

61

anc u

ll1

r", 2002) and wa n t u eful t e tab li h pre alene

r trend in then rlhern B

eorg .
n e id en e rega rdin g m thamphetamin e treatment ( allaghan, Ta lor, Viet r &
Lentz, 2007 ; allaghan et al. .... 007) wa inacc urate in talin g n rth ern trend related t
methamphetamine . The trea tment facilitie di eu ed did not provide ervice
n rthern
det

. The reG re. tati tic in luded patient from thcr pari of

ificati nand trea tm ent re

!el y to
dditi onall y,

rd s hm d ev id ence ofpe pie acces in g se rvi ce

hich

e eluded main tream and methamphetamine involved per on who had not reac hed a point
of needin g r v antin g he alth erv rce . The

orthern Hea lth

uth ril

h wed 232

community addiction crvrce adm i ron for amp heta min e mi u e in 2003 (British
olumbia Mini try of Hea lth erv ice . 2004). H v e er, th di clai mer tated that cli ent
may have had m re th an one ad m i sion in 2003 and methamph etamine may n t have been
the primary dru g used.
The overall ev idence suggest that methamph etamine use was not a majo r problem in
Prince

eorge durin g th e tim eframe tudied, 2000 to 2007. Yet, thi s did not dimini sh th e

rea lity of methamph eta min e use and its con eq uence for minimum barrier ervice providers
in Prince George. In stead, the ava il ab le data demonstrated a signifi ca nt gap between
evidence and know ledge in the Co mmunity. BC Health office r Kendall cautioned. "if
officials get 'too worked up,' there is a ri sk th ey will take methamph eta mine "out of context
of what work in terms of dru g-a buse prevention and educati on" (" Don't overdramatize meth
crisis, health offi cer warn ", 2004).

62
DI
The goa l of thi ca e tucl

a toe amine th agenda behind the information

pro id d to the pub! ic ab ut methamphctami ne in Prince
ach f th v ho, h
c ntainecl it

and wh categ ri c \\a

eo rge: the

h , h wand why.

eparate and eli tin t from th e others and

wn c mpl e. iti e of who, h \ , and wh . For exa mpl e, th e R MP ,

rthern

Health and l a l drug deal er \ ere re pon ible for most fthc informati on in Prince
or'\ h ' in[! rm ed th e public about meth amph cta rnin .
wa , for them

t part factual and unrelated t

methamph etamin e. 'I l \ 'the Prince

eorge

mmunity prevention informati on

increa eel panic \.\Ord about

e rge public were inlo m1 ed abo ut methamphetamine

app ar d t be thr ugh in crea eel panic\ ord in media repo11 in 2005. The in crea eel panic
word s chang d the Community' perception of meth amph etam in e.
increa eel panic word and inform at ion provided to the

he 'why' of both

ommunity abo ut meth amphetamin e

and consequence of u e, related to the large r Prov inci al gove rnm en t agenda of panic
creation in order to increase public tru t.

The Who of Informing the PubLic in Prince George

Two view were prominent in local methamph etamin e awareness: prevention, and
dru g dealin g. Policing and Northern Hea lth marketed prevention mes ages mainl y through
Prince George Sc hoo l District 57 . Howeve r, drug dea ler also had an objective, to increase
profits from methamphetamine sa les. From prev nti on to dru g dea lin g, strategic planning
was utilized to ga rn r large r market for the product.

6

R MP
h R MP

ndu led a multile cl campaign against methamphe tamine with

wti e at the federal (Pccbl . 200 a). pro incial (Pccble , 2004a) and municipa l lc cl
(t

R ~ pr gram . The media actively engaged in metham1 hetarnine awarcne

tl

publi hed at1icle

tl

cial fa tor in methamphetamine u, e (Pceble'l, ~006b). Police brought t

when

n enforcement ("Drug bu . t", 2000) and on 1 Iicing per pcc ti e of
ommun ity

"'entati n real liCe fielu c ! erience of'the con equences ofmethamph tamine u c.
: nCor ement' main premi e \\a
quence. hindered other

leterrence: an ideology that harsh and wirt

ommunit) member from committing the , amc action

1den. 2000). From a p Iicing pcr'>pectivc. the goal f harm reduction wa achieved by:
di rupting e tabli hcd market~ and thereb~ reducing rublic disorder, as well
as interrupting upply and thereby driving up drug price and incrca ing the
time drug u er ha e to ·pend earching lor drugs ... These approache also
aim to prompt drug users to refrain from drug usc or enter treatment out of
fear of ad er e c n~equences (e .g., arre~t, incarceration) or by making habits
difficult to u tain due to rising rrice. (Kerr, Small, & Wood, 2005, p. 211)
perspective wa evident through the media accounts or arrests and drug bu ts in Prince
)rge from 2003 to 2007.
Another method of marketing prevention\ hich the RCMP used to inform the public
"" through

ommunity policing presentations in Prince ()corge, especially to elementary

secondary schools. 'I hrou gh a variety or communit policin g initiatives, the RCMP were
a vein informing the Community of'tiH:ir k11owkd 'l: ("l\klh c:unpaign launched". _007).

64
R MP pre ntati n

Ill

r a in gl a know led ged

pre nt d in[! rmati on for "J u t a Kn

cia ! fact r (Peeble , 200 b) and

·· approach ( eck, t 998) .

orthern 1-fea/th

he g al f the

rth ern ll ea lth

uth rit wa 1n crca in g health within the

mmunit with meth amrh etamine in~ nnati n D cu ed on harm redu ti on. Th e hea lth
informati n wa deli\ ered. in large part b
Pre

nti nand

orth ern Health Y uth Dru g and

trcet pirit (" tree t pirit Thea tre

performance at a tim e", 200 8). trect r irit \. a a

omrany:

lco hol

hangin g th e v..o rld one

uth th atre co mpany that r erform cd

interacti ve forum thea tre. In additi n. pa mphl et and perform ance focu cd on in crca 1n g
know I dg and av\ a rene

of th co mple, iti c

f mcthamph etam ine u c.

Drug Dealers

Dru g deal r had their goa l too - incrca ed pro fit . T heir prin cipl e strategy to in crease
profit was th e nega ti on of preve nti on in form ati on (RP OO I). In many way ,
methamph etamine marketin g parall eled stra teg ies of bi g tobacco co mrani es. As Lin g and
Glantz (2002) dem onstrated. tobacco adverti ement subtl y targ ted yo uth . Whil e not as
co mpl ex as tobacco trateg ie . methamph etamine dea ler

ugges ted th at co nse quence in

anti-adve rti sin g prese ntati ons such as th e " faces of meth"( "Face of meth ")were not th e
experience of all methamphetamine users (RPOO 1). Dea lers often gave free sa mpl es to
introduce meth amph etamine to new use r in th e hope of in crea ed ales (ll arri on. Eri ckso n.
Korf, Brochu , & Benschop, 200 7).

5
Th flow of !J?forming !he Puhli, oboul Methamphetamine

ln 2005 the Pr vincial g
r

ernm nt re ponded l the "methamphelamin panic" with

ur e in the form of one-lime eed grant which vvere offered to each community in

Briti h

lumbia that de eloped a methamphetamine inter ention/preven ti on pr gram . Thi

re pon e occurred at the ame time thatth pr vin ial Liberal were dealin g with i sue
public lru t relat d to ch

I cl

urc . h alth cut . a well as the sa le f

f

Rail (1-.latley,

2005;, "Pr mi r put n de~ n ive", 2005). In their th ory of the ocial con truction of a
moral panic,

de and

n-Yehuda (1994) de cribed an elite model in which '' the elite

fabricate a panic o cr a nonexi tent r tri ial threat ... in order to ga in omcthin g fvalue r
di crt alt nti n from i ue . that if addre cd. \
160) .

uld threa ten their wn private interests" (p .

iven their declinin g popularity, the prov incial Liberal needed to dem on trale care

and concern in order to rega in public upport .
reati n of a methamphetamine panic nece sitated the mov ement of
methamphetamine from a "non-problem" to a "symbolic cri i " ( euman, 1990, p. 167).
Media wa e entia! in order to change public percepti on. Community awareness of
methamphetamine up to 2005 often made the national and international news, such a the
CBC Fifth Estate production, Dark Crystal (Davis 2005). For the gove rnm ent to benefit
from the creation of a "methamphetamine crisis" (Peebles, 2006a), the public needed to
perceive a direct impact on

ommunity. Even th ough methamphetamine was n tan is ue in

2004 for the Northern Hea lth Authority (Jan, 2004), methamphetamine 'v\a deemed to be a
Cri S IS.

A popular proces which created investment in a" ) mbolic crisis" ( cuman. 1990, p.

167) wa to demon trate a threat to chi ldren and outh. Statistic in Briti sh Columbia

66
(T nkin, 200 ) did n t d m n tratc hi gh rate

f methamphetamine u

am ng ma1n tream

uth. Therefore, to create m ral panic pri or kn

ledge of methamphetamine needed t be

the po iblc co n eq uence

f long term mcthamph etamin u e n the

e trap lated t

ho

indi idual and th
con equence

ommunit) ( eck, 199 ).

rea ti n of a threa t in cr a eel the vi ibility of

[methamphetamine u e through med ia im age ( av i , 2005; Kwan , 2 000 ~

eitzeL 2005~ Pecbl e . ~004b. 2005d~ , "Ruin ed li es: the danger of methamph etamine",
200 ) \\hich reinforced pcrcepti n of"da ngero u choice" and " horribl e dru g''(" peakin g
not

for the II n. hirl e

on I", 2006) with "e il ide effec t "( Pceb lc , 2006a) to the

public (Beck, 1998). The Prince
2006) "taking

eorge public v a now awa re of the "grow in g cri i " (Jan ,

er the trcct "(Jan. 2005) and that "treatment centres are more relu tant to

take on cry tal meth amp hetam ine u er a a result of th eir i lent tendencie '' (Jan, 2005).
ccording to

um an ( I 990), abu nd ant panic wo rd s throu ghout 2005 represented th e

eli co very sta ge of an i sue-attent ion cycle, that moved from non-probl em to problem or
' ymbo lic crisis'' (p. 167). This tage was often acco mpani ed by exc item ent in commu nity to
"do so methin g effective" (p. 164) regarding the iss ue. Funding ann ou ncement during the
election campaign emphasized the urgency of the crisis and the wi llin gne s of the
government to help co mmunity deal w ith methamphetamine. As Ne um an ( 1990) pointed out,
public interest at thi s leve l of inv olvement was not susta inab le as the comp lexi ty of the is ue
became in creas ingly prominent. In late 2006, perception br ade ned to polydrug u e with
complex contributing factors~ thi ultim ately re-establi heel methampheta min e a a nonprobl em w ith no foreseeable o luti on (Neuman, 1990).

67
The Why of b?formin[; the Public about Methamph tamine.

Ther
Prince

a a p cifi c ag nda behind informing the public ab ut methamph tamine in

rge relat d to th e Pro in ial g

[methamphetamine in Prince

ernment . er tc e pro ider eli cl o eel the pre ence

e rge t mana ge ment a earl a 2000 , et thi reality wa

ign red . Th e fir t medi a acco unt of meth am1 hetamin e in Prin ce Geo rge ccured in 200
(" rack h u e raided ", ~ 00 ). Pani word

uch a "dange r", "ev il ", and ''dirt y filth y dru g"

that de crib d m th arn phetamin c \\ ere ba ica ll unh ea rd b e ~ rc May 2004 (li e sedenz,
2004 ). There \\ ere three mcd ia acco unt from th e
orth ern I [ealth Y uth Dru g and

rth ern Hea lth Authority (J an, 2004) and

lco h I Pre enti n (Pcebl e , 2004b , 2005d) in 2004 and

earl 2005 which eli cu eel meth amphetamin e: h weve r, the inform ati on was presented
factual! \ ith onl t\\ O pani c word bet\ een th e cl cum ent . Thu , th e increa ed pani c wo rd
in 2005 did not demon trate th e

orth ern I Jea lth

uth ority' vi ew of meth amJ hetamin e. Th e

number of panic\ ord in 2004 more th an tripl ed durin g 200 5: from nine to thit1y one.
From Ma y 200 l to May 2005 , the BC Liberals, led by Premi er

ord on

ampbell,

broke man y of the promi ses made durin g th e 200 I prov inci a l electi on ca mp aign. The
credibility and publi c tru st in the gove rnm ent sub tanti all y dec lin ed, to th e po int where " th e
voters simpl y [do not] beli eve [Ca mpbell]" (Strac han, 2006). With maj or credi bi Iity i ues
directly related to educati on and health cuts, as well as th e oppos iti on to the sa le of B

Rail,

the Premi er needed an iss ue th at impro ved hi s "cruel and uncarin g" im age and restored
pub! ic tru st ( trachan , 2006) .
Th e issue of provincial publi c tru st related directl y to Prin ce Geo rge, a co mmunity
with three Liberal MLA . Eve n th ough there wa co n iderable oppos iti on to the sa le of BC
Rail , pariicularl y in north ern B wh ere Ma yo rs and bu in es lea ders spoke out aga inst the

68
al , Prince

rge May r f in lc publici

did remier

ampbell' credibility d

up] orted the ale (De iccio , 2005). N t nl y

lin e, but the Prin e

e rge May r v a al o affected

through hi in ol em nt v ith th e pr vin cial Liberal .
oode and
pr

inci al g

en-Yehud a ( 1994) eli cu ed in th eir th eory o Cpani c c n tru cti on, the

ernm ent needed a cri i ' hi ch demon trated ng in g ca re and once rn o f th e

h alth fit c n titu ent . The is ue ultim ate! nee ded edu cati on imp Iicati on whi ch
d mon trated c nccrn for outh and chi ldrcn. Th e e effort vvc re to denect attenti on from
the ale t 8

Rail , V\ hi ch \va

and had to be ac hi

eel w ith ut pendin g large am unt

methamphetamine. ( ee
111

olved in th e 8

till a hot t pic f'or many in B , mo t noti cea bl y in the north ,
Cmoney. Th e cho en iss ue wa

ppendi 2 fo r a more detail ed acco unt fth c tim elin e and i sues

Liberal pani c co n tru cti on).

Th ere was a lac k of ev id nee rega rdin g th e preva lence of meth amph etamin e pec i fi e
to Prince

eo rge both in gove rnm ent doc um ents and prov in cia l resea rch (8

Co roners

Service, 200 5; Tonkin , 2005). tatement by re earch parti cip ants indi cated th at whil e
meth amphetamine wa a ignifi ca nt pro bl em for ome age ncie , the larger i sue '"a th e lac k
of fundin g th at en ured su tain abl e program , treatm ent bed , and other hea lth ervice .
Alth ough the Methamph etamin e Enviro nm ental Sca n Summit was hosted in Va nco uve r in
November 2002 (Briti sh Co lumbi a Mini stry of Hea lth Services, 2004 ), pr vin ciall y
speaking, few changes rega rdin g meth amph etamin e occ urred until aft er th e elect ion in 2005.
In October 2005, th e B gove rnm ent created th e Cry tal Meth ec retari at in add iti on
to the fund s pr v ided to co mmunity programs (Mini stry of Publi c afety and oli cito r
General , 2007). The increa e in pani c wo rd s did not begin until 2004 with mo t occ urring in
2005, the year of th e prov incial electi on. In fac t, th majo rity o rr ani c \VOrd s occ urred afte r

69
th electi n wh en Premier

ampbcll wa

p nenc1n g a

2006) . he fir t publi in0 rmati n e ion in Prince

ffect wa th e 8
lth ugh Prin

ol i itor

vere lack f pub! ic tru t ( trachan ,

corge n mcthamph tamin e and its

nc ra l' M thamph etamin e Fo rum held on Fcbruar 2, 200

e rge' in clu ion appea red to be clu e t th e innu nee of a loca l ML ,

publi c tru t and the li be ra l im age ma ha c bee n m rc fa n in ce nti c.

l

In 200 , v hil c g

crnm cnt d irected it

methamphctamin m arcne
in Prince

um11w r_v
ub ta nti al rc

urce toward

in an em rt t inc rca e publi c tru t, the va ri ou

.
.
erv1cc age nc1e

e rge were n t tryin g to increase awa rene . E trcme need in service popul ati on

echoed throu ghout re ea rch parti cipant inte r iew . From eclu c ti n to hea lth t m1n1mum
barri er ervice, re ource , b th hum an and fin ancial\ ere ove rwhe lm ed. Whil e thi s
environm ent prov id ed an idea l atm osph ere in whi ch to take co mprehensive ac ti on th at
addre ed th e effect of methamph etamin e in th e

ommunity, thi s was not th e rea lity.

l obe-Armstrong (2005) stated that erv ice age ncies oft en perce ive th emse l cs a
unre lated to eac h oth er. Attempts to aclclre

me thamph etamin e a part of a pl an of trateg ic

acti on could have united most of the segmented reso urces within Prin ce Geo rge; ye t, a in g le
issue focu s, methamph etamine, had the oppos ite effect (S inge r et al. , 2006). Yo uth quick ly
domin ated co nce rn s abou t meth amph etamine in Prince Geo rge. A yo uth age nda , \ hil e
appro priate, shifted attenti on fro m strateg ic pl anning for the

ommunity to a

whi ch stymi ed di scuss ion about meth amph eta min e affec t on other area

uth agenda

uch a bu ines

(N OMA ), mainstrea m wo rker (Briti h Co lumbi a M ini stt· o r I lea lth ervice , 2004: Klcc.
200 I; Sin ger ct al., 2006), and post eco ndary tudcnt (Ba I in -So mmcr & , ommcr , 2006:

70
uintela et al. 2000). a e (200 I) dem n trate I that the i ibi lity of illicit dru g d e not
ne e aril indi ate hi gher dru g u e and dep ndenc . -:ven th ough hi gh ri J
ibl thr ugh ut minimum barri er

.
.
r tce age nc1 e .

Labonte and Minkl r ( ~ 006 ) tated th at "
care w rk r t

uth u age is

nt ct m [und ermin e ] the e f~ rt

upp rt" (p . 7) prog ram th at ar uniqu e t th e

fhcalth

mmunity' differin g

populati on and their n cd .
111111

n c mpl aint \ a ... too mu ch tim e and m ne on talkin g, pl annin g

andre archin g loca l nee d ra th er th an d in g s methin g about probl ems th at
neighb urho d and min ority rga ni ati on [ftndj imm edi ate and obv iou
hey al

be li e e th at ... ove rh ead co t

wa ll ow re ource th at g ra~s ro ts

organi zati on co uld use more effecti ve ! (Lindh o lm , Rya n, Kadu shin , axe, &
Brodsky, 2004, p. 269).
ome frontlin e servi ce pr vider ex pre s bittern e

towa rd th e proce

of in clu sive and

ys tematic acti on with reso urces that ee m to be ·'wasted" on loca l and prov incial mee tin gs
(Singer et al. , 2006) whil e oth er embrace it as an opportunity to rai e y temi c i ues at
policy tabl es. The percepti on of addre sin g sy temi c i sues through po li cy deve lopment i
that it wastes valu abl e reso urces and opposes frontlin e service prov i ion iss ue . Thi
perception creates a co nfro ntati onal enviro nment regardin g methamphetamin e awa renes m
Prince Geo rge.
Labonte and Minkl er (2006) identify three co mponent for effecti ve co ll abom ti on I)
"comm on definiti on of the probl em", 2) ''co mmitm ent to coll aborate", and ) " identi lica ti on
of the stakeholders" (p . 93). The three components are initi all y in place: ye t, the hirts in
orga ni z ing agency and foc u on a yo uth age nd a tall th e pro posed ac ti on that arose from

71
eli

u ion . Fo r e, ample, th e on ly acti n item that inc lude

rnm uni ty member will ing to

lun t r ffort i in the area f policing ("Regiona l conference n methamp h tam ine:
Y uth program" , ~ 00 7 ) . Th ere arc t\v po ible
v h w uld normal!
communit i

planati n

r r such an outc me: l) per ons

luntee r are alread wo rking in th e yo uth arena , and/or 2) the

imp! o cr helm ed w ith need.

er helmin g need re onate mo t tron gly

with re arch parti cipant . Orga ni za ti on diffi culti e , fundin g limitati on , and appropriate

eli bur em ent of findin g fr m th e ~ rum s, re ~ r to th e need for pec ifi c kill s and time to
addre

ommunity i u

in a tim e! mann er. "Gra r ot cntiti e

metim c lacked D rma l

orga ni zati n or admini trati e capac ity" (Lindh lm , Rya n. Kadu hin , Saxe, & Brod ky,
2004, p. 271) th at are nece ary to rn o c an age nd a forwa rd .
Ideall y, unifying th

ommunity to address meth amph etamin e i sue wo uld gath er

' creativity, energy, reso urce and in crea e th e impact'' of strateg ic acti on (Lindh o lm, Rya n,
Kadu hin , Sa xe, & Brod ky, 2004 , p. 27'2). Howeve r, th e id eal ''contradi cts th e co rnp titi on
and egmentati on that are the in stituti onal co ntext" of serv ice prov i ion at all leve l (p. 272 ).
Competition refer to '"direct or indirect co ntes t betwee n se ctor or orga ni zati on over
reso urces ... in cludin g clients, tafl grants, co ntrac ts, and publi c credit for loca l initi ati ve "
(p. 272). Lobbyin g for co mmunity attenti on is anoth er form of co mpetiti on betwee n
age nci es. An y interage ncy cooperati on brin gs with it the mand ates of each age ncy with the
service provid ers' co mmitm ent to ensure th at their spec ifi c focu or o luti on is at the
forefront of any Co mmunity ac tion. Gras root co ntex t , fund er co ntex ts, politi ca l and
business co ntex ts also present barri er to co mprehensive effort to ad dress meth amphetam inc
use (Libby, 2 00 2~ Saxe, Reber, Jl allfor , Kadu shin , & Jones, 1997). 1\ los t resea rch
part icipant state that the main issues cli ents arc fac ing is po lydru g usc and barrier · to hea lth

72
n nce

n t methamphetamine. a e et al. ( 1997) a ert that the diffic ul ty " in co rwin rn g

gra -r

and min rit

rgani zati n t participat .. . Psl c nvinc ing them they hav a say

in the d Cl ion-m akin g procc " (J . 62).

he competiti on i o ern t nly rc

ur e but also

a " bared i i n" ( a, , Reber, H a ll~ r , Kadu hin , & J ne , 1997, p. 58) .
Th e D rum whi ch initiate I in Prin ce
b d . Th e

eo rge lac ked a formal pr ce

mmunit Pl anning 'o un cil <;tarted t inform

ommunity member about

methamphetamin e whil e th e de eloped a plan for co mprehensive
( Iore y, 200 5b). Thi pr cc

r de finin g

ommunity acti on

tail ed due to fr ag mentati on in vi ion and lac k o f recogniti on

of meth amph etamin e affect on ommunit, a a whole. Verti ca l kn ow ledge differed
ub tanti all y fr m admini tratio n to frontline crvice pr vid crs; howeve r, thi di sco nn ecti on
did not affect

mprehen i e pl an that addr

eel meth amph etamin e u e. I loriLontal

di sconnecti on created a" tru gg le within [the co mmunityl ove r whi ch trateg ies we re
emp loyed and who should co ntro l them" ( axe, Reber, Hallfor , Kadu shin & Jone , 1997, p.
362). Although coll aborati on betv. ee n age ncie i ac hi eva bl e (Lindholm , Rya n, Kadushin ,
Saxe & Brod ky, 2004), cooperati on require a clear definiti on of th e i ue, uch a th e
preventi on of methamphetamine use, as we ll a th e ro le of eac h co ntributin g age ncy and
service provid er, and the co nnec ti on of th at iss ue to va ri ous segments o f th e co mmunity.

7
L
lnG rming the public in Prine
t

u

and olution can reate barri er

welln e . Mand at

for er i

pro

a difficult ta k.
ompr hen ive m
n and

iffering per p cti ve

ment t ward

er helming need

ithin th e

n

mmunity
ommunity

en ure th at pro idin g in~ rm ati n t th e 1 ubli c i large ly "o n th e id e of th e de k." In
additi n,

mmunit

apac ity to addre

probl em dimini h

ith ut , trategic pl annin g to

mo e ~ nv ard in a co mprehen -ive manner ( aye r, 2002).
ll ori zo ntal eli c nn ec ti on '' ithin ' mmunit indi ca te th at mos t res pon e to
meth amphetamine, rcga rdl e

of th e age ncy in vo lved, are rega rd ed with cyni c ism and

u pic ion f a hidd en age nda. Fragmentati on pr vic!

an adva ntage for ex tern al agend as as

\ ith politi cal lobb in g. ln clu i e know ledge harin g ca n be an ea rl y wa rnin g of a new dru g
tr nd as we ll a oth er i sue th at acco mpany m th amph etamin e uch a th e vio lence and
mental hea lth effects.
Hall and Broderick ( 199 1) reco mm end th at co mmuniti es create trateg ie for
monitorin g such as loca l drug epid emi ology netwo rk . The network w ith '·represe ntati ve
fro m health , crimin al ju ti ce, and other co mmunity age ncies affec ted by dru g abu se" (p. 11 3)
trackin g local data may reveal "e mergin g dru g pro bl em[ ] .... much soo ner than it wo uld be
detected from national data or urveys" (p. 11 3). Thu s, Prince Geo rge co uld reap the ben fit
of interage ncy coo perati on rath er th an traditi onal ind ependent ac ti on. "Network of addicti on
treatm ent programs and health department may anti cipate and all ocate th erapy re ources at
th e onset of a [dru g] outbreak'' (p . 11 8). " Loca l strateg ic ma y more rapi dl y id entil'y, pre ent,
interv ene in , and stop ex pansion of the pro bl em'' (p. 119) .

74
Diffi ultie

ith r le rec gnition dem n trate that I al trategie req u1re awarene

f the di er e I ill et t ad an e the

ommunity re pon

pro ider ne d to be m are f th e d i rrering ki II
a I ng term p li

change (Hall &

t at va ri u

tage

gencie and
f pr

es

uch

r derick, 1991) and hort t rm frontlin e action

( tim on, Fitch, Ball, & Rh de . 1999).

dditionall

th rcle ancc r pecific acti on , uch a forum ,
addr

(Mayer, 2002).

cr icc pro ider require kn wlcdg

r

nrcre nce , and provincial meetin gs in

in g meth amphetamine u e. Recognition of th e ab iliti e and kill w ithin th e

mmunity '

uld al o a ll ow partner hip '"'hich de rca e barrier and incrca e ca pac ity

(Mayer, 200_), rath er th an the current com r etit ion of th e mo t needy age ncy r pr gram
(Kretzmann & McKnight, 2007). Broader. cr ati c partner hip , such a bu in e s owner
ment rin g y uth , could enc ou rage coh

i e c mmunity, and knowledge haring. There is

little recogniti on of the capac ity or ommun ity re ourccs such a pe pie, age ncie ,
in tituti ons, and bu ines e .
lmpot1ing expert fro m the urban outh i problematic. The northern experience is
unique with difficulti e that are related to both geograph y and resources as we lL and th e
capacity for creative re ponse . outhern re pon es to methamph etam in e are not
contextua li zed to the northern reality; for exampl e, th e longe r and co ld er winter conditi on
for street involved persons inevitably create different co nditi on . Conver ely, the northern
reality also in clud es the ab ility to impl eme nt uniqu e program s uch as trcet Spi rits and Meth
Busters, "a loca l publicity package so people [co uld] learn abo ut meth " ("Me th campaign
launched" 2007) . Recogniti on or successes and le so ns lea rn ed by variou age ncies a ' ith
Fighting Buck (Ha ll fors, Cho, & Kadu hin , 2001; Lindholm, Rya n, Kadushin, a ' t\ &
Brod ky, 2004) increase feeling of empowe rm ent to addrcs dirticult i sues (Bent, 2003;

75
aulkin

Lar on,

Rich, 199 ). H we er, the maj r difficult in Prince

thr ugh the agenda

fin~ rmin g the public and th

the Ia k of a hared i ion. Without

c rge a

di connection within the

i ion th at i embraced by the entire

een

ommunity is

ommun ity, not

ju t egmcntcd p pulati n an initi ati c t create am re re ponstve y lem ultimately fail.
Recommendal ions

Fir t, th e reation of an cpid emi olog i al netvv ork w uld be neces ary to monitor and
inv e ti gate ub tancc u e in Prin c

eo rgc. Idea ll y, thi entity v ould be di tin ct from th e

municipal go ernm cnt , le tit bee me a hea lth and wc lln e
de elopm ent rath er th an buildin g co mmunity capac ity.
member from loca l g

co mmittee guid ed by eco n mJ c
a q arate body, acceptin g

ernm ent and er icc age ncies a we ll as ' ommunity members

hould minimize perc epti on

f bi a or hidd en age nd a ,

lnclu i e kn ow ledge haring in th e epid emi olog ica l netv. ork wo uld act a an earl y
warnin g of dru g trend as we ll a oth er trend related to changes in loca l dru g use such as
incr a in g need in hea lth ca re, poli cin g, and minimum ban·ier se rvice prov i ion. Thi s netwo rk
would also decrea e th e tim e lag betwee n awarenes and interventi on whil e prov idin g an
inclu ive pi cture of the impac t of a dru g and th e path th ro ugh Co mmunity se rvice and
age nci es. For exampl e, RCMP co uld be th e fir t to notice a ch ange in dru g trend s and th en
health se rvices or thi s co uld occ ur in rev rse. Kn ow ledge of trends in oth er co mmuniti es.
such a the Lower Mainl and , wo uld all ow th e netwo rk to inform th e publi c of po ibl e
impacts to se rvi ce pro vi ion and hea lth outco mes whil e retaining the north ern co ntext.
Second , th ere wo uld need to be recogniti on of th e benefits o r stra teg ic pl annin g to
addre s substance usc in a co mprehensive mann er. No t onl y wo uld plann ing be ncccssa r for
increasin g th e capac ity of Prin ce

eo rge to address the chall enges of ubs tancc usc, hut thi ,

76
wi ll al

d mon tratc an ackn wlcd gmcnt ftbe re

urce and kil l that different group

bring t ne

initiati e . W rk hop t inform crvi e pro ider and

the ki II

necc ar at ari u

ha rt t rm and

tag

ommunily member of

of a trateg ic procc , uch a fronll in e action in the

tcmi po li cy chan g in the I ng term, c uld in rea e appreciation for the

pr ce . It \J.. Ould be e entia! for th e ornrnunit to recognize th at each a ti n relatin g t
ub tan

u e, v., hcthc r it initi ate within hea lth are. p !i cin g and/or outh , ca n affect the

mmunit a a \vh le. There fore, th e '" ho le 'o mmunily hould re pond to sub lanc e use
trend that af~ t hea lth in a trategic manner.
hi rd . th e apac it) of th e

ommunity hould be en ouragcd, demonstrated, and

initiated a a mo em cnl. Re ogniti on fth e abiliti e and kill s ' ithin Prin ce
all o

partner hip vv hi ch co uld dec rea e ba rrier and in crease capac ity.

creati e partn er hip

uch a partnerin g yo uth with se ni or or bu in c

eo rge will

roader and m rc

owners a mentor

could encourage a co he ive Community and know ledge sharin g as well a in creas in g
empathy and co mpa ion fo r di ffe rent kill and abiliti es.
Finall y. we mu st recogni ze and utili ze th e pl eth ora of local ex perti se throughout
Prince Geo rge. Deve lopin g a ros ter of prese nte rs and th eir pecifi c area of ex peri isc w iII
allow an interventi on or di sc u sia n, such as workin g w ith violent cli ent or recognr z rn g
specific mental hea lth iss ues, to be co ngru ent to the audi ence. Thi will al o all ow th e service
provid er, agency or co mmunity member, th e opportunity to hi ghli ght their abiliti

,

challenge , and spec iali zed kn ow ledge to oth ers in th e co mmunity leadin g to dec reas in g
di sconn ecti on betwee n gro up and thu s reso urces for all popul ati on .

77

78

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n, J. (2001) . n ler tandin g the ro le fc ontc tual influence on local h alth-eare
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Rai l ad

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Meth amph etamin e-related p chi atri c mpt m and redu ced bra in dopamine
tran p rtcrs tud ied with P ~ T . American Journal qj' P.~ychiatry, 158(8) 12 06- 12 14.
ekin , Y.,

uchi Y., Ta kei, ., Yo hikav a, E. , akamura, K., Futat uba hi, M., et al.
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emaan, ., e Jarlai , D. ., & 1al0\ , R. (2006). Behav ior change and hea lth-related
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emenza, J. ., March, T. ., & Bontempo, B. D. (2007).
mmunity- initi ated urban
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emp le, ., Gra nt I.. & Patter on. T. (2005). egati ve elf-Perce pti on and ex ual Ri k
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emp le, ., Patter on, T., & Grant. f. (2002) . M ti vati on assoc iated with mcthamph tamine
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92
PP .. ND I

UNIVERSITY OF NORTHERN BRITISH COLUMBIA
RE EARCH ETHIC BOARD

MMRADM
To:
C:

Jud y Mit he ll
ll cnry r lard er & Ken Prkac hin

From:

Greg Hal eth . hair
Re earch Ethi c Boa rd

Date:
Re:

ugu t 8, 20 07

E2007.0723 .074
riti cal Ma : A ca e tud y of th e who's, th e how' and th e wh y's of
informin g the publi c abo ut cry tal methamphetamine in Prin ce co rge

Thank yo u for submitting the above-noted resea rch proposa l and requ e ted am endm ents to
th e Resea rch Ethi cs Boa rd . Your proposa l ha bee n approved.
We are pl eased to iss ue app rova l for the above named tud y for a peri od of I 2 month fro m
th e date of thi letter. Co ntinuation beyo nd th at el ate will require futih er revic\ and renewa l
of R.E B approva l. An y changes or amendm ent to th e pro toco l or co n ent fo rm mu st be
approved by th e Re ea rch thi c Boa rd .
Good lu ck w ith yo ur research.
Sin cerely,

reg ll alseth

9
PP -. DIX 2

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40
(/)

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'0

su

30

c
ro
0....
4-

0
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20

..0

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::J

z

10

0-

--,

Type of Document
--..-Total documents ~Panic words for meth

Figure I . Type of Document by the

umber of Panic words

94
PPE

IX

35
30

-2..._ 25
~
u
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ro

20

Q_

4-

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2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

Year of Media Document

Fi gure 2. Number of Panic Word s by Year of Menti on in Medi a Docum ents.

2007

95
pp

4

rgc, 8

May 9, 2007

Go d

ft ern oo n,

My name i Jud y litchell, Ma ter ' andidatc in th e
8 ' 'ommunity I Jealth , ci ence
program. I am doin g my th e, i n publi c infom1 ati on about cry tal meth amph etamin e in
Prince corge. pec ifi ca ll y aro und what th e cri i point was th at co mpell ed informin g th e
publi c about meth in our co mmunity. In ord er to d thi I am crea tin g a tim elin e of eve nt
through ut Prince eorge co nce rnin g meth uch a wo rkshops, pres ntati on , or an y oth r
meth od o f informin g peo pl e.
If yo u are aware o f any wo rk hops, inform ati on se ions, pamphl ets, or other literature on
meth or have parti c ipated in any uch eve nts, l wo uld apprec iate any inform ati on th at i
avai Iabl e about when the eve nt occurred, in w hat way the di sc u ion related to meth and v. ho
the target audi ence was. If po sibl e any co pi e o f the inform ati on presented wo uld be ve ry
much appreciated.
I am es pec iall y inte res ted in the fi r t eve nt prese nted or th at happened co nce rnin g meth

within Prince George .
Thank yo u for yo ur tim e.
Sincerely
Jud y Mitchell
3333 Uni ve rsity Way
Prince eo rge, 8

V2N 4Z9
Ph : 25 0 -5 6 2- 71 3 ~
mail : tobinj (a)unbc.ca

96

xxxxxxxx
I ri nee
V2
4

v nu e
orge, 8

cl b r 2, 200 7
ear

XX X,
Re:

ETT R O F I '1 ~ T F R l T ERVI EW PARTI IPANTS

Thi inG rm ati on package i to furth er our co nver ati n rega rdin g yo ur participati on in the
rc ea rch 1 roj cct, riti ca l Ma :A a e tud OfTh e Wh o' , Th e I low' a nd Th e Wh y's of
Informin g the Pub lic bout r ta l Meth amph etamin e In Prin e Geo rge .
Th ank yo u for co n id crin g parti cipatin g in thi . re ca rch proj ec t to c tabli h a tim clin c of
publi c kn ow ledge f crys tal meth amphetamine in Prin ce eo rge . I have a ked for yo ur
participati on in thi resea rch beca use of yo ur in vo lve ment, e ith er through yo ur age ncy o r
through th e medi a, in inG rmin g th e publi c about cry ta l methamph etamin e.
The benefits of parti cipatin g in thi re ea rch proj ect includ e th e opportuni ty to hare yo ur
e peri ence in uch a 'v\ ay th at Prin ce Geo rge ca n better und er tand th e impac t of mcth and
po sibl y achi eve po iti ve ch ange in Prince Geo rge . There arc no anticipated risks assoc iated
with thi tud y.
The interv iew will take about an hour of yo ur tim e. ccompanyin g thi letter is a co py of th e
questi on l wo uld like to as k. I wo uld also like to make yo u aware of my pre ference for
tapin g th e intervi ew. T hi s is to prese rve yo ur inform ati on as stated rath er th an my
interpretati on o f any notes taken. At any tim e, yo u may w ithdraw yo ur co nsen t fo r reco rdin g
th e interview, or w ithdraw yo ur parti c ipati on in th e re earch.
The informati on that yo u give in the tud y will be kept co nfid enti al. Your info rm ati on \ ill be
ass igned a code number. T he li st co nn ectin g yo ur name to thi s number w ill be kep t in a
separate computer fil e. When th e stud y is co mpl eted and th e data has bee n ana ly?ed, thi li t
will be destroyed. Your name will not be made publi c in any way with out yo ur con ent.
Th ere is a co nse nt agreement enclosed.
Your Rights As A Research Participant

•
•
•

•

You have th e ri ght to w ithdraw fro m th e interview at an tim e.
You have the ri ght to re fu se to answe r any qu e ti on.
1f yo u choose to withdraw fro m the researc h proj ec t, yo ur informa tio n \\iII be
w ithdrawn a we ll.
You ha ve the ri ght to co mplete anonymit y, mea nin g )O Ur name wi ll not appear on
any docum ent in thi proj ec t.

97

Y u rna requ e t a c p of yo ur tran cript. Y u al have the choice to rece ive a copy of a
ummar f findin g upon c mp leti on of the researc h.
II do um cntati on fthi s re earch wi ll be kept in locked torage for fiv e year and after that
time, Lh will be hredd ed.
If you ha e any qu e tion abo ut thi re ea rch tud y , plea e fee l free to contact me.
Jud y M itc he ll,

andid t fo r Ma tc r 1n
33 Uni er ity Wa ,
Prin ce eo rge,
V2
Phone: 960-523 8

mmunity Hea lth , cience
4Z9
- maiI: tobinj @unbc .ca

r my uperv1 or,
Dr. H e nry H a rd e r

3333 Uni ers ity Way,
V2N 4Z9
Prin ce eo rge, BC,
Phone: 960-6506
mail : hard erh C2«unbc .ca
If yo u have a ny co ncern s a bo ut yo ur ri g hts as a pa rticipa nt in thi s stud y or yo ur

ex perience whil e parti cip ating in thi s research stud y, before, durin g or after yo ur
participati on, pl ease co ntact th e Uni vers ity of No rthern Briti sh Co lumbi a O ffi ce of Resea rch
(960- 5 820) or by emaiI: reb _sunbc.ca.
Thank yo u for yo ur tim e and I hope yo u have a ve ry good day.

Sincerely,

Jud y Mitchell

A ttached :

Conse nt ag ree ment
Intervi ew qu es ti ons

98
Con ent Agreement for Interview Participant

I _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ,G ive M y Penni ion for the Followin g:

I agree to pat1icipate in thi re ea rch project.

Yes

N

I agr e t th e audi -tapin g o fthi in te r iew.

Ye

N

Ye

No

I ag ree t the u e f my name in thi rc arch proj ect.

Yc

N

I wo uld like to rece i e a co p o f the tran cripti n ofthi interview.

Ye

No

f would Iike to rece i e a umm ary o f th e findin gs upon co mpl eti on.

Ye

0

I am awa re th at I ca n withdraw fr m thi s resea rch proce

Ye

0

I agree to the u c o fm

inform ati n in thi rc ea rch proj ec t

a " ell a a ny publi ca ti on r ultin g from thi re ea rch.

at any tim e.

*If You C hoose To Withdraw, A ny Info rm a ti on Yo u H ave Prov id ed W ill Be Des troyed ;
A udiota pes Will Be Broken, Printed Ma teria l W ill Be Sluedd ed And A ny Info rm a tio n
Stor ed E lectronica lly W ill Be Deleted.

Signature of P a r ticipa nt

Date

Signa tu re of Researc her

Date

9
ample Interview Que tion for Key Community Membe1·

l.

When do

u recall fir t be omtn g aware f cr

tal m thamphetam ine.

Prompt: In wh at conte t d y u fir t recall bein g aware of cry tal meth ?
2.

hal d

o u recall o f yo ur rgani zati n' reacti on to cry tal methamphetamine?
Prompt : Wh at\ a happenin g that yo ur orga ni ati on wa n tieing cry tal
rncth ?

3.

When d y u re ca ll fir l di

u in g th e po ibl e implicati ons of cry tal

methamphetamine for th e municipality of Prin e George?
Prompt : Wa th ere a con er ati on with individual member of yo ur
organi za ti on or in a taff meetin g or oth er gath erin g?
4.

Wh at was th e prec ipitating factor ( ) th at mad e yo u and/or yo ur organi za ti on to wa nt
to inform th e public about cry tal meth amph etamin e?
Prompt: Wa th ere any one situ ati on, in cid ent, or eve nt th at made yo u fee l
peopl e need to know wh at is happenin g here?

5.

How did yo u and/or yo ur orga ni zati on choose inform th publi c about crystal
methamph etamin e?
Prompt: Was th ere a reason yo u and/or yo ur agenc chose a spec ifie method
of informing th e publi c or a pec ifi c pop ulat io n\\ ithin Prince ( ,corg -'?(i.e.
pamphl et vers us prese ntati ons)

100

PARTICIPANT COPY
Information for Interv iew Participant Who Formerly U ed Meth

Th ank y u for agree ing t be int r icwed [! r the rc earch pr j ect, rifical Mass. Thi
re earch pr j ec t i t tr t make out a tim e Iin e o f publi c kn ow ledge and inform ati n
a ail abl e abo ut cr tal meth amph etamine in Prin ce eo rge. You ha ve been a ked to
parti cipate in th i re ca r h bcca u c y u have pec ial kn ow ledge a a person who ha u d
mcth in Prince e rg . l ill be a kin g y u ab ut y ur xperi ences of cr talm eth and
the er ice for pc pie u in g cry tal mc th in Prin ce Ge rge.
Th ere arc benefit t parti cipating in inter iev. uch a :
a. Ha ing th e pp rtunity to hare yo ur t r and yo ur e pen ence,
b. haring our kn w ledge o th e Prin ce eo rge co mmunity ca n better und erstand
th e effect · of cr tal meth amphetamin , and
c. harin g yo ur knowledge ca n help efG ct po iti v change in Prin ce eorge.
Th ere area l o ri k in parti cipatin g in thi interview:
a.
uchy ubj ect may co me up and cause yo u ome emoti onal di tress. If yo u wa nt
to talk about the e fee lings afte r th e interview, pl ease as k me for help . l may a kif
yo u need help if I fee l yo u are hav in g di ffi culty.
Your Rights A A Research Pat·ticipant

•
•
•
•

You have the ri ght to withdraw from th e interview at any tim e.
You have the ri ght to refu se to an we r any qu e tion.
If yo u choose to withdraw from th e interv iew, yo ur inform ati on will be
withdraw n as we ll.
You will have co mpl ete anonymi ty, your name wi ll not be on an y papers or
reports o n this research project.

Before we beg in ta lkin g, I need to discu

the limitat ion o f thi intervie\\1.

l ) A nonymity- Th e inform ati on yo u hare will be reco rd ed an n.J mously, mea nin g your

name will not appear w ith that inform ati on. Ir thi i a prob lem lo r yo u, ) ou may
choose to stop the interview. There' ill be no bad fee lin gs if' this is your dcci ·ion .
2) Confidentiality - Yo ur co nlidcnt ia lity wi ll be respec ted. The list co nnec ting )OUr

name to th e info rm ati on rrom thi s interview will be I cpt in a separate COI11 [ utcr rile .
When the tud y is co mpl eted, thi s list \'vi ii be destroyed. Your name \\ill not b' us'cl
in any report or made publi c in any wa .

l0 l
noth r pe r on may bet ping out your in fo rm at ion fro m thi s interv iew. They will
not kn w your name b cau
ur intervi w wi ll be giv n a num ber with no name.
They wi ll ign a confident iali ty agr ment aying that th ey will no t rep at anythin g
the heard whi led ing thi j ob. II in~ rmation collected fro m thi int rv iew will be
kept locked t rage for fiv e year at the University ofNort hern Briti h olu mbia .
fter that tim , it will be hredd d.
3) l al ·o need to inform y u th at l as we ll as
a) All citize n

f Briti h
o f hilc.lren and Famil

olumbi a are requi red by law to report to the Mini stry
eve lopm enl if th ey ha ve rea on to believe that a youth
under the age f 19 i b i ng abu cd or harm ed in an y wa y. If yo u reveal thi s
durin g th e inter iew, l will worl with yo u to make ure th at any reportin g i done
with y ur full kn ow ledge , and pl ace yo ur safety fir t. You need to kee p thi
limitati on to c nfid enti ality in mind when yo u are an werin g the qu e ti ons.
b)
II citize n of British Co lum bia are required by legi lation to report anyo ne
who e. presses th ought of harmin g them elves or other . Ifthi s is revea led durin g
th e interv iew, I will wo rk with yo u to get imm ediate help and to help set up
appropri ate co un elling ervices for yo u. Ifthi i n t enough to he lp yo u and th e
thought co ntinu e then l am co mpell ed to report thi s to the appropri ate auth oriti e

Thi interv iew will take about one hour of yo ur tim e but it can take more or le
dependin g how much inform ation yo u would like to share.

tim e

If yo u are interested in th e findin gs ofthi proj ect, I will mail yo u a umm ary o f th e
findin gs or I can drop off a co py for yo u at a spec ifi c age ncy. Ju st fill in the addre or
agency name for wh ere yo u would li ke the summ ary sent on th e bottom o f th e co n ent
ag ree ment. Thi s li t of addresses and names will be kept in a separate fil e fro m any of th e
inform ati on co ll ected today.
If yo u have any qu e ti on about thi researc h study, pl ease fee l free to contac t me.
Jud y Mitchell,
andid ate for Mas ters in Co mmunity I fc alth Sc ience

3333 Uni ve rsity Way,
Prin ce 1eo rge, 8 ,
Ph one: 960-52 8

V2N 41:9
Email : to binj (c~ un bc.ca

102
rm

uperv t r
Dr. Hcnr I lard er
333 111 r it Wa y,
8
Prince e roe
V2
b'
Ph ne: 960-6506

4Z9
maiI: hard erh @un bc.ca

If yo u have a ny co ncern s a bo ut yo ur ri g hts as a pa rti cipant in thi s tud y or y ur
experien ce v hil e participatin g in thi re ea rch tud y, before, durin g or after y ur
parti cipati on, pl ea e c ntac t th e ni cr ity of orth ern Briti h
lumbia ffi ce of
Re ea rch (960- 20) or by email : rcb@unbc.ca.

10

on ent Ag reement f r Participant Formerly Us in g Meth

I , _________________ , G ive My Penni sio n for the Following:

[a gree t participat in thi inter ie\ .

Yes

No

[a gree to ha ve m inG rm ali on tape-reco rd ed during thi intervi ew.

Ye

No

l agree to th e u e o f th at inform ati on for rc ea rch purposes.

Ye

0

I am awa re th at I can leave thi intcrvie\ at an y tim e.

Ye

No

[ am av. are that I an re fu c to an wc r any que ti on

Yc

0

I would I ike to rccc ive a rep rt f th e proj ect.

Yc

0

S ignature of Participant

Date

Signature of Researcher

Date

Address to Receive a Copy of the Summa•·y

Apartm ent/Street - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ity/Prov in ce _____________________________
Zip Code_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __

Name of the Agency to Receive a Copy of the Summat-y

104
ample Que tion For Intenriew Participant Formerly Using Cry tal Meth

l.

an

u recall

hen ou fir t heard ab ut/u

d cry tal meth ?

Prompt : What kind of ituati on were y u in ' hen you fir t heard abou t
meth (ie a party, a friend , famil member ....... )?

2.

an ou recall if there

mcthin g spec ifi c happenin g in Prince George arou nd that

tim .
Prompt : What wa happenin g aro und town at that time?

3.

What kind of erv1cc in Prince George do yo u acce ?
Prompt : Did yo u go t the ho pital , oc ial ervices, co ll ege, or daycare ?

4.

Did tho se se rvice show any know ledge about meth that you were aware of?
Prompts: Did anyone ask yo u about yo ur meth u e? Were meth pamphlet
on di splay at the crvice o ffi ce?

5.

Have yo u noticed any change in the way ervices in Prince George arc pr vidcd
to peopl e using meth ?
Prompts: Are th ere spec ialized services for peo pl e u in g meth? If o, ' hat
kind? Are peopl e using meth bein g directed t wards certai n people or
se rvices?

105
Tran criber

onfidentiality

greement

I, _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ , agree to keep the c nfid enti ality of all
int rv1e\
di cu

I tran cribc related t the

v ho i

peaking, or\ hat wa

ritical Ma

re ear h project. l will not revea l or

aid n the audio tape I am tran sc ribing oth er than

with there ear her, Jud Mitchell.

ignature of Resea rch

Signature of Resea rcher

tant

Date

Date

106
APP EN DIX 5
Orga ni za tio na l R o le

repre entati e f tel e
m dia .

Ca tegory (Id enti ty Code)

n, radi

or print

Media (M)

per n h ld ome dec i i n mal in g and poli cy
makin g auth rit w ithin th eir age n . hi per n
do n t p r id fr nt Iine e r 1 e.

E ecuti vc Admini strati on ( /\)

per n \ ith me aut n m and dcc i ton
makin g abi Iiti e \ ith in th eir age ncy. hi per on
doe littl e or n fr ntline crvice pro ts ton.

Manage ment Admini trati n (MA)

per on wh fulfil du al ro le a fr ntlin e ervice
pro vid er whil e manag in g ome oth er face t of th eir
ag ncy. For s me parti cipant thi in cluded a
tro ng advocacy ro le.

Manage ment Fr ntlin e ervtce
Prov ider (MF P)

A p r on prov idin g frontlin e ervice to peopl e
e peri encin g di ffi cult i w ith mcth u e and/or
addi cti on.

Frontlin e crvice Prov id er (F P)

A per on wh ha but is currentl y not u in g meth .

Fo rm er Meth User (F MU)

Fi gure 3. Codin g of re ea rch parti cipants.

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108
I.

.
.
iberal win the pro incial el ction with 76 of 79 eat . ampat gn prom 1 e
included : n cut t health are, not to ell r privatize 8
frozen ("

Rail , and to I eep tuition

. leg i lature ould it b summer, ampbell say ", 200 I; Hatl ey,

2005).
In "a n Oct 19 bull etin to hea lth mini str e. ec utivc
admini strati n by

rd er[ed] the cuttin g of

5 mill i n ove r th e ne ' t three year ". The pr vincial

go vernm e nt fr ze hea lth and edu csti n fundin g over the next three yea r ("Gov't
ok to Is h hes lth c t ", 200 I).
a. Th e pr

in cis l go crnm ent make cuts to uppl cmentary medi cal pl an

benefits, dru g eli gibility, and Medi ca re premium a istanee (" B.C. cut
hea lth ervicc mo t other don't cove r", 200 I).
b. An Ipso -R eid poll show Premi er Gord on Ca mpb II' approval ratin g i
down from 70 to 5 1 per ce nt in three month ; whil e hi go vemm ent'
approva l rating fa ll s from 71 to 49 perce nt ("Campbell tumbl es in
approva l ratin g:

ew poll shows half the voter

ti II sup po rt premi er's

efforts to cut costs", 200 l ).
3. January 1, 2002, the Me di ca l Se rvice Pl an cutb ac ks tart. The gove rnm ent
dec lares th at it w ill onl y fund 'acce s to medi ca ll y nece sa ry' heal thcare
(" ampbell tumbl es in approva l ratin g: New poll how haiCth e \ Otc rs stil l
support premi er's efforts to cut cost ", 200 I) .
4. ln a survey o f I 500 Ca nadi an by Leger Marketin g, " BC shO\\Cd up ' ' ith the
lowest leve l o f sati sfac ti on fwith th e edu ca tio nal Sys tem! of n!J prO\ inccs" ("Poll
bl as ts gov't for edu ca ti on cuts", .... 003).

109

Th lead r f the
Prin ce
O \\

ew Dcm

e rgc that ca ll

rati Part ree i c a 25,5 80-nam petition in

n the pro incial go ernmc nt to keep B

Rai l publicly

ned ( iel en, 200 ).
a.

!'he petition with " more than 2,000 ignature
opp

ed to the pri ati;ati n

r Briti h

olumbian

r 13 . ". Rail ervice [i s] pre ented in th e

lcgi lature" (Rud , ~00 ).
b.

rter e\e n
2002,200

ho I clo ure. helps to meet a 9.6-million hortfall in
tart vvit h a projection ora furth er 9.9-milli n hortfall in th e

_00 -04 budget C' trick land, 200 ) .
6. In an open letter to Premier 10rd n 'ampbe ll . "some nm1 hern

C

ity

cou nci l! rs, ma or , and businc

have igned up with labour to ca ll on th e 8

government to halt the ale of B

Rail (I loek tra, 2004).

7. B

Medical/\ ociatio n post graph on a web ite th at h \

time aero

the province for variou

urgene

111

rca e in wa it

duet cut to Medicare ( ic l en,

2004).

8. Opinion poll

hO\ that "over 75 per cent" or the Prince JCOrge population arc

aga in t the ale orB

Rail ("BC Rai l advocate still fighting", 2005) .

9. At aBC Rail meeting people expres~cd the opinion that ··cordon

ampbell and

the 8 ' Liberals shou ld be voted out or office in th e upcoming election f'or
breaking hi s promise not to ell B Rail"\ hile one per. on challenge. the Prince
George Mnyor to defend the sa le ("BC Rnilmeeting dra\\"' packed hou se". 2005) .

liO
a. Former Liberal , Paul
pending are a ru

ettlet n tat

and that "Premier

that r c nt increase in government
rdon

am pbell can't be

tru ted"(Hock tra , 2005).
b. I ue brou ght up the day before th e electi on in clud es' the ale of B. .
Rail [which] dem n trate c mplete betraya l ftru st and lacko fintegrity
on th e part of [ ord on ampbe llj' Liberal s ... " Other brok n promi e
includ e clo ure or cutbac l 7 1 ho pita! and emergency roo m , wage cut
for ho pita! worker , eliminate 2,500 pos t- eco nd ary l ac hers and other
taff, double college and univer ity tuiti n fee , increase cia

.

.

I ZC

In

e ery grad e, and cuts training and appre nti ce hip program (" and id ates
tan gle on econo my, tru t", 20 05).
c.

In the May 17, 2005 electi n, the Liberal governm ent major ity hrink
from 79 to 46 seats.

10. Prince George Mayor welcomes the prov in cial gove rnment announcement of 7
milli on dollar to help 'battle the grow in g problem with crysta l
methamph etamine'' (Nielsen, 2005).
II . A letter to th e Ed itor describe the Prince George Ma yo r as being out of touch
with regular folks. With busine , many notihern BC city council and tvvo
separate Prince George poll show in g the public i op posed to the sale of B.
Rail , '' Mr. Kins ley did everythin g he cou ld to up1 ort \\h at his community did
n t, and that is betraya l'' (DeCiccio, 2005).

lll
a. ML

hirl ey 8 nd ann unc s a pr vincia l governm ent plan to introd uce,

Meth rVatch, a program to monitor " bu ll

ales of cold medicatio n that can

be u ed to make cry tal m th ' (Peeble , 2005b) .
b. The pr

incial governm ent relea e 2 mi llion dollar t

uppoti

co mmunit -ba cd pr grammin g to fi ght " th e use of crysta l
methamph etamin e" ("A nti -meth fund eekin g appli cati on ", 2005).
12. Fe b 2, 2006, oli citor

cneral' Meth amph etamin e forum held in PG . Whil e

MLA hirl ey Bond ann ounce

choo l initi ati ve to edu cate students about meth ,

there are no in crea e in fundin g fo r trea tm ent bed .
a.

On e repotier note that in September 2005," ampbcll was characterized
as cru el and un carin g" however by March 2006 th ere was a perce pti on that
Campbell had mell owed in hi leader hip tyle ( trachan, 2006).