The unpredictable effect of meth on suspects is creating safety concerns for police.

Police Chief Ryan Hunt explains they seeing more calls to respond to individuals experiencing a meth-induced psychosis. The individuals will often be hallucinating, seeing people who aren't there or reporting incidents or crimes that never happened.

"This is a huge concern for the safety of our officers because there is no way of knowing what actions these persons might take when police approach them," Hunt says.

While officers make the individual's safety their top priority, "they certainly have to approach these persons with the utmost of caution and the awareness that the person likely doesn't know they need help."

Because of the user's state of psychosis, Hunt says they could very well interpret the helpful actions of police as being aggressive and may attempt to defend themselves.

"Our officers need to always have their guard up when dealing with these situations," he says.

Earlier this month, staff at a local gas station called police after a suspicious male entered asking to be arrested. Police say the man was deeply paranoid and was convinced he would be safer in custody because he believed he was framed for a crime. The male admitted to using methamphetamine earlier in the day and police believed his behaviour was caused by his drug use.

The following day, June 2, police were dispatched to an area of Highway 14 in the City of Winkler where a female was witnessed crying. Police located the woman who appeared to be paranoid and hallucinating from perceived methamphetamine use. The female had contacted police on multiple occasions throughout the week regarding events she believed had occurred but were confirmed to have not taken place.

The female was transported to the hospital for assessment but due to her erratic behaviour staff were unable to conduct a proper assessment. The female was then transported to the Winkler Police Service where she was lodged until sober. Once sober, the female admitted that she had used methamphetamine and was no longer hallucinating. The female declined the opportunity to be transported back to the hospital and requested to be returned to her residence.