Police are sounding the alarm about Winnipeg's growing meth problem.

A press conference was held today at Winnipeg police headquarters, with several speakers.

Max Waddell, an inspector with the Winnipeg Police organized crime unit, said until we can decrease the demand of meth, the supply into the city will continue.

"We're in the process of finalizing an illicit-drug strategy that will encompass the actions of not only enforcement but also intervention and education. And I can tell you the most important one is intervention... we need to help people," said Waddell.

Waddell says 2016 marked a significant increase in seizures of meth in Winnipeg.

"For the year 2016, we had 490 seizures of meth that worked out to approximately 11,590 grams. In 2017, we had over 701 seizures at over 12,000 grams," he said.

Rob Grierson, medical director for the Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service and a Health Sciences Centre emergency room physician, told reporters about the dangers of meth. He says the acute effects can be wide ranging.

"From a health care standpoint, no two individuals and no two uses are exactly alike. Which makes it very, very challenging to manage these patients both in the ambulance and field setting and certainly in the hospital setting. It's really unprecedented in terms of its unpredictably in the health care world," said Grierson.

Winnipeg Police chief Danny Smyth says he's often asked what keeps him up at night, and the issue of meth in Winnipeg is getting to that point.

"There's probably not a week that goes by where we don't encounter some kind of sensational, news-worthy event that we may not even recognize at the time that is associated to meth," said Smyth.

Smyth says methamphetamine is also having a huge impact on public service resources. He says sometimes officers are put in a position in which they have to use force to control someone high on the drug.

Winnipeg Police say they seized four kilograms of methamphetamine, among other drugs, through three search warrants executed last month.