Pubdate: Thu, 22 Nov 2007
Source: Victoria Times-Colonist (CN BC)
Copyright: 2007 Times Colonist
Contact:  http://www.canada.com/victoriatimescolonist/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/481
Author: Cindy E. Harnett

EX-ADDICT WARNS OF CRYSTAL'S DEADLY ALLURE

Lieutenant-Governor To Be Patron Of Crystal Meth Society Of B.C.

Morgana Glass thought she had big problems at age 15. When she got 
hooked on crystal meth, those problems got a lot bigger.

The former army cadet and soccer player was sitting on the floor of 
some guy's basement one night when she realized life had become as 
bad as it could get.

"I didn't live anywhere, I didn't own anything and I was just 
released from the cop shop," said Glass, 21, in an interview. "Now 
I'm getting my life back together, working every day, striving to go 
to university and have a family. I work really hard at that every day."

Glass, who speaks to students about her experiences, is just one part 
of the Crystal Meth Society of B.C.'s many programs and successes. 
The charitable group was formed in 2005 by Mark and Ruth McLaughlin, 
Marilyn Erickson and their colleagues and friends.

Since its inception, the society has presented its Meth Info Show to 
17,000 students, held community meetings, hosted conferences and 
established a program where nursing students provide support to 
addicted people on the street at night.

At a presentation at the Coast Victoria Harbourside Hotel and Marina 
last night, the provinceide group announced B.C. Lt.-Gov. Stephen 
Point will serve as patron of the Crystal Meth Society of B.C.

That will further increase the profile of the group, currently taking 
its message and programs to civic and community leaders all over B.C. 
and throughout Canada, said Mark McLaughlin. "We have been invited to 
Ottawa to discuss our programs with the Ministry of Health, the 
Ministry of Public Safety and the RCMP [in December]," he added.

Six years ago, Glass didn't know what crystal meth (methamphetamine) was.

A Grade 9 student at Claremont Secondary School at the time, Glass 
had been educated to stay away from cocaine, heroin, acid and ecstasy.

Offered meth at a party, and too embarrassed to refuse and curious 
enough to experiment, she tried it. "I said no at first. I hadn't heard of it."

The first time felt good. After a few more times, she noticed she was 
more confident, more energetic, and enjoyed school more. She thought 
it would help her excel.

But it didn't take long for the highly addictive substance to fuel 
her downward spiral. "I tried it a few times when I was 15," she 
said. "Then I was using all the time when I was 16."

She stopped playing soccer, barely went to school, and eventually 
dropped out of Grade 10.

"You do a bunch of drugs and dig a deeper hole than you were in."

Sleep-deprived, skinny, sickly and very depressed, "I was not happy at all."

Glass tries to describe this deep depression to the scores of 
students she speaks to.

She's been off drugs for eight months, earned her Grade 12 diploma 
with honours at the Individual Learning Centre and is working full time.

"Kids will mostly listen to my experiences," Glass said. "My family 
life was not horrible, it was just complicated ... If I kept going to 
school, playing soccer ... I would have been able to face those problems."

Glass said no one, including herself, would have believed she could 
become a drug addict. She was doing "wonderful things."

She emphasizes to students that crystal meth -- often disguised as, 
or hidden in the widely available hallucinogenic designer drug 
ecstasy -- is stronger than they are.

"I let them know it's a very scary drug," she said. "They will 
usually listen to how I feel."
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MAP posted-by: Keith Brilhart