Pubdate: Sat, 11 Nov 2006
Source: Orlando Sentinel (FL)
Copyright: 2006 Orlando Sentinel
Contact:  http://www.orlandosentinel.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/325
Author: Tanya Caldwell, Sentinel Staff Writer
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/youth.htm (Youth)
Note: Rarely prints out-of-state LTEs.

STUDENT TARGETS METH MYTHS

The Stetson University Junior Tells An Audience About  The Scope And
Depth Of The Crisis

DeLAND - If there's one thing Stetson University  student William
Collum wants his classmates to know  about methamphetamine, it's this:
"This ain't your  grandma's speed."

On Friday, more than 100 Stetson students in tie-dye  T-shirts and
baseball caps found out for themselves  just how much worse it is.

Collum, a junior political-science student who has  spent his summer
vacations as a congressional intern in  Washington, had done so much
research on meth that he  felt compelled to share his findings with
others. He  said that college students are one of the groups most
likely to use the drug.

"It's described as God, really," Collum told his  classmates. "It puts
you in heaven, for a moment."

Some of the meth abusers in Collum's presentation  looked like they
had been through quite the opposite.

A blown-up photo of a convicted abuser, who was on meth  for 36
months, was one of several examples onstage at  Stetson's Rinker
Auditorium. Before meth, the woman was  petite and unremarkable. In
her after-meth picture, the  woman was disheveled and scarred, looking
much older.

"People have been known to actually dig up their skin,"  Collum said.
"It's called the Superman state. . . . You  don't feel pain."

Meth is a drug that can be chemically produced, or  cooked, at home,
Collum said. It is made from  pseudoephedrine and ephedrine, which is
why some  drugstores now require consumers to first show
identification when buying cold medicines.

The effects also can be devastating for nonusers.

Sometimes, chemicals seep into walls and the clothes of  unsuspecting
residents who didn't realize the house  they bought was used as a
drug-producing warehouse,  Collum said.

Ryan Hutson, 21, a senior political-science and Spanish  student, said
Collum's presentation helped students  learn more about the deadly
concoction.

"It's something that people have heard about . . . but  they don't
know much about it," Hutson said. "He and I  are exact opposites on
the political spectrum, but the  meth topic is always something that
we can always come  back to."

Collum said that combating the drug has been a  bipartisan issue in
Washington too. He said his focus  on Friday was to make others aware
that there were  legislators seeking funding. The more public
awareness  on the issue, he said, the more support there is in
Congress to combat the drug.

"I wanted people to just show up for the cause, not  because of the
speaker," Collum said as students filed  out of the auditorium. "I
hope that it'd cause  discussion, and I know that it did."
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MAP posted-by: Derek