TEENS RECALL HORRORS OF METH

If This Drug Doesn't Kill You, The Lifestyle Will, Says Ex-Addict

Recovered Crystal Meth Users Tell Their Stories To Oak Bay Students

Baylie McKnight knew she was in trouble when the blood came pouring
out of her nose, drenching her homework. She'd never had a nosebleed
before in her life. She was running a temperature of 103, but didn't
tell anyone or go to the hospital. She didn't want anyone to know she
was snorting crystal meth, so she suffered in silence and alone.

McKnight, who is from Oak Bay, was 14 at the time. She spent the next
year and a half living on the streets and waking up in drug houses
after having slept for two days. On one occasion, she was raped in her sleep.

With the support of family, McKnight was able to stop using and has
now been clean for three years. But there are few publicly-funded
detox facilities in Victoria to help people like McKnight who aren't
so lucky. There are 11 spaces for youth in Victoria, four of which
are prioritized for crystal meth users, said Vancouver Island Health
Authority (VIHA) spokeswoman Moira McLean.

When the Crystal Meth Victoria Society and the Salvation Army
announced that six additional spaces for male youth will be opening
in mid-February, Crystal Meth Victoria received over 150 calls from
parents wanting to know how to get their kids in, said president Mark
McLaughlin, adding that VIHA and B.C. Housing are helping fund the spaces.

McKnight, now 18, recently spoke about her experiences on meth to two
audiences of Grade 8 and 9 students at Oak Bay High. She recalled the
$6,000 in damages she had racked up at the condo her parents rented
to get her off the streets, some of which her drug-using friends had incurred.

"If it's not the drug that kills you, it will be the lifestyle that
does," she told them.

Crystal meth's full name is methaphetamine. It is also sometimes
called meth, jib, gak, speed, crank, ice, sketch, crystal and tina.
It contains ephedrine or pseudoephedrine and may contain chemicals
like acetone, drain cleaner, paint thinner and kerosene. It is
sometimes filtered through cat litter and can cost as little as $5.

It can be smoked, snorted, injected or eaten and the high can last
eight hours or more. Some of the risks of using include rapid and
extreme weight loss, intense paranoia, hallucinations, rages and
violent behavior and death due to brain hemorrhage or cardiovascular shock.

For part of the Crystal Meth Victoria presentation, Grade 8 classes
sat in stony silence watching a gritty documentary filmed in
Vancouver called Death by Jib. In the film, one recovered addict who
first tried meth to lose weight recalled trying to kill her mother
and suffocate her dog while high. Another woman who had difficulty
standing still opened her mouth to show the camera her toothless
gums, as the drug had destroyed her teeth. One student left the
auditorium in tears.

While there is no way to know exactly how many youth in Oak Bay are
using crystal meth, the issue hit close to home for some in the
audience. When asked how many people knew someone involved with
crystal meth, about 30 of more than 200 students raised their hands.
Vice principal Shawn Boulding said the presentation is worth doing if
it helps stop even one person from trying the drug.

"Last year we had a tough year in that one of our students - it
wasn't a student that was attending but she was on her way here -
came across what we understand could have been crystal meth, took one
pill one time and died," he said.

Seventeen-year-old Brenna Barker also shared her experiences as a
meth addict with the high school students. Barker started doing drugs
at age 11 and got hooked on crystal meth at 13 when she took an
ecstasy pill containing it.

"I got hooked and it went from (using) one day of the week to the
weekend to every single day of the week for months at a time," said
Barker, who was hooked for four years.

"It's a long, confusing, overwhelming, painful way to live life."

Barker attempted suicide several times while using. She has been
clean for five months, but still has lingering symptoms of paranoia.
She speaks softly and quickly, and has difficulty focusing her eyes.

Crytsal Meth Victoria co-founder Marilyn Erickson does outreach work
with addicts in Victoria knows the signs of withdrawal well.

"You still hear voices, you still see shadow people," she tells the
audience. One of the most visible symptoms of crystal meth addiction
is compulsively picking at scabs on the body.

"I've seen people eat their scabs because they smell like crystal
meth," Erickson said.

McKnight also experienced the picking syndrome.

"One day, I took tweezers because I thought I had something in my eye
and peeled half my eye lens off," she said.

Four months before McKnight stopped using, she found out she was
going to become a big sister. This helped motivate her to quit, she said.

"I wanted (my sister) to be able to look up to me. I'd never had a
sibling before and I've always wanted one."

In two months, McKnight will finish her diploma in community, family
and child studies at Camosun College. She hopes to become a psychiatric nurse.

Sharing her experiences with high school students makes a difference, she says.

"I wish that I would have had something like this when I was younger.
I maybe might have made a different, more informed decision."

Signs Of Abuse

Insomnia or failing to sleep for several days

Decreased appetite and weight loss

Increased/extreme energy

Excessive sweating

Rapid, non-stop speech

Sudden violent outbursts

Obsessive picking at acne-like sores on face or other parts of the body

Increased sexuality

Hallucinations

Paranoia, euphoria or aggression

Depression or suicidal tendencies

Presence of inhaling paraphernalia such as straws, razor blades,
mirrors, glass pipes, broken light bulbs, butane lighters or torches

Presence of injecting paraphernalia such as syringes, spoons and
surgical tubing

Source: Crystal Meth Victoria Society