OACP President Chief Armand La Barge joined Community Safety and Correctional Services Minister Monte Kwinter on February 9, 2006 in launching new replica clandestine drug lab at the Ontario Police College.  Below is the ministry news release.

NEW ANTI-DRUG LAB RESOURCE FOR POLICE
Replica Clandestine Drug Lab Opened At The Ontario Police College

AYLMER — Police officers in Ontario have an important new training resource in their fight against illegal drug labs, Community Safety and Correctional Services Minister Monte Kwinter said today, as he opened the new replica drug lab at the Ontario Police College.

“We need to do all we can to help police officers keep our communities safe,” said Kwinter.  “This training lab is an important resource in our fight against illegal methamphetamine and marijuana drug production and the problems of violence, guns and gangs that come with them.” 

The Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services provided $230,000 to the Ontario Police College to build and equip the replica drug lab.  The training facility, in the form of a single storey ranch-style home, includes a realistic marijuana grow operation and a kitchen-based methamphetamine lab.  It will be used by instructors at the college to help new recruits and experienced officers learn to identify, investigate and safely dismantle illegal drug operations.

“This new facility will allow us to provide police officers with the most up-to-date training on how to deal with the dangers of methamphetamine and marijuana production,” said
Rudy Gheysen, director of the Ontario Police College.

“The growth of illegal methamphetamine and marijuana production facilities in Ontario presents a new and dangerous challenge to community safety across the province,” said Chief
Armand La Barge, president of the Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police.  “This investment in building and equipping the replica drug lab at the Ontario Police College will help our police officers fight the proliferation of these illegal operations and the criminal activities they fuel.”

Illegal drug production, especially methamphetamine and marijuana, poses a serious threat to the health, safety and economy of Ontario communities.  The government has implemented a series of measures to combat this threat including:

• Passing legislation to make it easier to protect communities from the damaging effects of marijuana grow operations
• Dedicating approximately 100 of the 1,000 new police officers the government is fast-tracking into Ontario communities to fighting organized crime, especially marijuana grow operations
• Forming a working group to study the impact of methamphetamine in Ontario and to recommend ways the government can assist health-care providers, educators and police to deal with the production of the drug.

“This lab will give police officers valuable skills in their fight against the scourge of illegal drugs and the violence that inevitably accompanies it,” said Kwinter.  “It is another step in our plan to secure Ontario’s standing as one of the safest places to live in the world.”

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