The Meth Watch Program is an excellent example of how associations can work together to achieve a larger collective goal. NDMAC brought together retail partners, pharmacy, RCMP, provincial and municipal law enforcement, governments, community organizations and industry to help develop a program to pre-empt a significant social health problem that was plaguing the U.S. and was just starting to crop up in communities here in Canada: the illegal production and sale of crystal meth made in home-based labs using common ingredients (precursors) such as pseudoephedrine (used in many cold medications) and other common household products. This problem was resulting in home-based labs that were putting many people in affected communities at serious risk.

Based on a model developed by a coalition in Kansas (Kansas Meth Prevention Project), and later expanded upon by the Consumer Healthcare Products Association in the U.S., NDMAC significantly revamped the Meth Watch Program to be an "out of the box" program that communities and retailers are using to set up and train employees (through an online training course) to safely monitor the sales of self-care medicines containing pseudoephedrine and the other common household products that can be used to manufacture methamphetamine and to report suspicious transactions to the RCMP's centralized Canada-wide chemical diversion hotline. The ultimate goal of the program is to prevent small home meth labs from establishing themselves as a significant part of the meth problem in Canada. It is also an important tool and rallying point for community-based initiatives aimed at combating the broader meth problem.

The program has been active in communities across Canada since 2004, and to date, neither the anticipated widespread arrival of the home-based meth lab phenomenon nor the associated retail diversion has emerged as a significant concern in Canada. Many communities are crediting the Meth Watch Program with giving them the tools they need to keep these problems out of their communities. The Canadian Association of Chain Drug Stores, Retail Council of Canada, and Canadian Pharmacists Association are just a few of the organizations that contributed greatly to making this program a success.

The Canadian Society of Association Executives is the professional organization for individuals who manage Canada's most progressive associations. The Associations Make a Better Canada Award acknowledges and celebrates outstanding examples of innovative programs created by CSAE member organizations that result in positive outcomes in the areas of public education/information, public affairs/government relations, professional development and education, and ethical, technical or professional standards.  

Photo credit: Brian Hawkes photographic inc.