A Reformed Meth Dealer From Hinton Speaks About The Community Wide Impact Of His Former Life Hinton Parklander - I showed up a bit early at the neutral meeting spot, which had been chosen for my next interview: a question and answer period with a reformed meth dealer. All I had been told was that this reformed dealer was a man, in his early thirties, and his name was Richard. As I waited I felt nervous. After all I had only received the call that morning that the interview I had been waiting for was available, that afternoon. [continues 1162 words]
Meth is not a benign substance that only teenagers try. It is not a drug you will see a national leader talking about as something he or she experimented with when they were young and naive. Meth hooks its users fast and the effects of the addiction infiltrate every aspect of the meth user's life. The first try Often we have a hard time believing we are not in control. Despite having good jobs, or a great education, logical, smart people will try meth, believing they will use it for a short time. Just long enough to get them through. [continues 773 words]
Hinton Parklander - Crystal meth, crank, crystal, speed, glass, ice, zip, go-fast, fire, grit. Whatever it gets called methamphetamine use is a serious problem that the RCMP in Hinton deal with on a regular basis, and it is not a topic they take lightly. A vast majority of RCMP resources in Hinton are spent on dealing with meth users and crime associated with meth, making detection and prosecution a priority for the organization. "Most incidents of theft in Hinton are meth related. One hundred per cent of our habitual property crime offenders are meth users and the crime is directly and exclusively meth related," said Cst. Simon Pillay, a Hinton RCMP officer. [continues 559 words]
Hinton Parklander - As I anticipated my interview with *Christine, a reformed meth addict, I couldn't help but feel a bit nervous. I imagined sitting down in a small apartment, with someone tired and weathered from years of abuse, who would apprehensively answer my prefabricated questions in a clinical exchange. I arrived at Christine's address, a house, where her and her young child live. From our first meeting she was friendly, forthright and made me feel like an invited guest. We sat across from one another at a kitchen table in a pristinely clean house. Her young child played around us, and between pockets of her story, she would engage and praise him with a calmness and patience I certainly don't have. [continues 893 words]
