Pubdate: Thu, 03 Apr 2008 Source: Williams Lake Tribune, The (CN BC) Copyright: 2008 Williams Lake Tribune Contact: http://www.wltribune.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1226 Author: Gaeil Farrar CRYSTAL METH MORE DANGEROUS THAN ONE MIGHT THINK If you are a teen, or anyone for that matter, who is thinking of experimenting with some drug like ecstasy, pot or cocaine - don't. These days any street drug is just as likely to be laced with crystal meth as not. And the crystal meth of today is a quickly addictive, body ravaging, killer drug like no other on the black market. That was one of the messages that came through loud and clear in the presentations made to high school students and the public by the Crystal Meth Victoria Society members in Williams Lake Monday. Society president and founder Mark McLaughlin said crystal meth has been around for 100 years but the recipe for crystal meth that has been circulating for the past 15 years or so is like no other. Crystal meth is many times more addictive than marijuana, cocaine, or heroin. Some people are hooked the first time they try it. Some people die the first time they try it, as one girl did in Victoria, McLaughlin said. He said dealers, who are often crystal meth users themselves, lace other drugs with crystal meth in order to secure more clients. Users also often end up stealing and prostituting themselves to get the drug, McLaughlin said. "Meth just wants more meth. It doesn't care about anything else. Meth doesn't care about friends, family, possessions, tomorrow or your life," McLaughlin said. Williams Lake Safer Communities Coordinator Cricket Testawich says crystal meth is definitely here in Williams Lake and traces of crystal meth have been found in marijuana, ecstasy, and crack cocaine that has been seized by the RCMP in this area. "People think they are getting one thing, but in reality they are getting something else," Testawich says. She says dealers cut crystal meth into other drugs to make those drugs cheaper and more addictive. The Crystal Meth Victoria Society's presentation was sponsored in Williams Lake Monday by the Williams Lake Chapter of MADD Canada, Community Policing and Crime Stoppers. About 25 people turned out for the public meeting Monday evening at city hall and approximately 650 students at Columneetza and Williams Lake secondary schools saw the presentation during the day. "At Williams Lake Secondary you could hear a pin drop during the presentation," Testawich said. After the presentations she said there were also lots of questions from the youth. She said bringing the presentation to Williams Lake was an opportunity to work on preventing crystal meth from becoming the huge problem it has become among youth on Vancouver Island and the Lower Mainland. The powerful video Death by Jib drove home the point. In one scene the videographer followed paramedics to a home where a crystal meth user had overdosed and ended up in the morgue. Other scenes they showed how crystal meth destroys the teeth, emaciates the body, causes sores, shrivels the brain and causes erratic and irrational behavior. The teens and youth telling their stories in the video talked about losing years of their childhood to the drug, lost dreams, about paranoia and hallucinations, and how hard it is to kick the drug that they soon find out is killing them. McLaughlin said he and his wife formed the Crystal Meth Victoria Society after searching for help for one of their children who had become involved with crystal meth. He said they didn't find a lot of help in the way of detox and treatment centres but what they did find were a lot of other parents like themselves who were looking for ways to help their own children get off crystal meth. Michelle Cooper, a student from the University of Victoria who helped to make the presentation, said she didn't realize when she first started work with street youth in Victoria that most of them were using crystal meth. She also talked about the poisonous substances used in cooking crystal meth --- including kitty litter as a filter, charcoal briquettes, Sudafed, camping fuel, acetone, antifreeze, nail polish remover, rat poison. The presentation included signs to look for in crystal meth users such as agitation, inability to sleep then sleeping too much, and rapid weight loss. Also signs to look for in a house where crystal meth is being made such as covered windows, people eating outside, people coming and going. Testawich says that as a follow up to the presentations students will be given surveys to fill out anonymously which ask about drug use in their schools. "It's an opportunity right now to be in the prevention stage," Testawich says. - --- MAP posted-by: Derek