JOHNSONS SHARE THEIR STRUGGLES WITH WRV STUDENTS

SWITZ CITY - White River Valley Junior-Senior High School students
got to see a pair of real people talking about their real lives, who
were able to tell the real facts behind illicit drug use because they
have experienced the trials and troubles for a good part of their own lives.

Todd and Christy Johnson, of Lyons, are recovering drug addicts who
have been "clean" for two years, 27 days and counting.

They talk from experience not to be boasting, but to offer help to
the students they are addressing.

The couple, who are in their 30s, brought their emotional story to
the WRV students on Wednesday as part of a county-wide, week-long
public awareness and educational campaign called "Meth is Death."

The campaign sponsored by a local volunteer organization - Greene
United Against Meth or GUAM - is featuring convocation or classroom
talks this week by the Johnson's in the White River Valley,
Bloomfield, Eastern Greene, and Shakamak school districts.

The Johnsons stood before the WRV students in the morning and
afternoon and humbly shared from their heart in hopes that their
message might make a difference in the lives of someone.

WRV freshman Grace Hayes called the talk presented by the Johnsons
very powerful."

I was amazed that they could overcome that (addiction) after so long.
To be able to do that was great," she said.

She said to hear the real life story from someone who lives very
close to her school also impressed her in a way much more compelling
than anything she might read in a book in a class.

It is way different. In the books you get just the basics - this is
what it (the drug) does. You don't hear what it actually does to
someone's lives. It was very powerful," she said.

After the talk, Hayes personally walked up and thanked both Todd and
Christy for coming to her school to share their story.

Freshman Matt Dyar echoed those thoughts by saying, "I thought it was
very informing. To learn just how it (methamphetamine) can destroy
your life - both emotionally and physically. And it makes you never
want to do it. It was more real life than what we see in the textbooks."

Abby Henry, another freshman, commented that the message hit home in
a real way saying, "I thought it was really interesting."

Both Todd and Christy agree that "coming clean" in front of the young
students is their way of giving something back to their community.

It's well worth it to me. If I can keep one child from going down
that path, it's worth it. I want to give something back to the
community in any way I can to help. It means a lot to come here (to
WRV)," Todd, an L&M High School graduate, said.

Christy, who graduated from Linton-Stockton High School, said its
scary" to get up in front of the young students to talk, but the
feedback from the students has been encouraging to her.

Every time we have done it at least one kid has come up to us and
given us some sort of a response. You know that it (the talk) has
touched them," she said.

On Monday, the couple spoke to a similar convocation assembly at
Bloomfield Junior-Senior High School and had two girls come to them
afterwards and asked for help for a friend who was involved in drugs.

Yesterday, a girl came to the Johnsons after the session seeking help
for a parent who was using.

With tears welling up in her eyes, Christy admitted that being able
to help these students in even a small way makes it all worthwhile.

The story was absorbing for the students who sat through the
45-minute convocation - most with their eyes and ears fixed on the
gym floor from which the couple stood before them.

The Johnsons told how they were heavily involved with
methamphetamine, marijuana, alcohol and other illegal drugs for
nearly two decades.

Christy started experimenting with prescription drugs and alcohol at
age 12, moved on to marijuana, LDS and harder drugs as she entered
her high school and college years. She used meth once and liked it.

She was hooked and while using meth she could stay awake for three,
five, even seven days at a time - meaning she had endless energy and
she deceivingly believed she was a better wife and mother until she
came down off of the high and slept for days at time.

Todd started experimenting with alcohol and marijuana when he was in
the seventh grade and moved on to methamphetamine and harder drugs as
he grew older. He was soon an alcoholic and a meth addict by his own admission.

Between pot and meth the couple spent more than $600 a week trying to
feed and satisfy their out-of-control drug addictions. Todd earned
more than $70,000 a year and they had nothing to show for it. All of
their money was going to buy drugs.

No matter how many drugs they ingested it was never enough, he said.

There was a four-year period when the couple did drugs together every
single day, Todd revealed.

They both saw their lives destroyed in every facet.

Christy had three pregnancies end early by miscarriages because she
wasn't able to stay off of drugs.

Even when her young daughter, Madison, was born five years ago,
Christy says she was back doing methamphetamine within days of being
released from the hospital.

I brought my baby home from the hospital and three days later I
started using meth again. She was six days old. I justified that by
telling myself that I was being a better mother because I could stay
awake and I could take care of her and do all of the things for her
that mothers do because I wasn't tired," Christy told the gathering.
But I was a nanny. I wasn't a mother. I was the most horrible mother
that you could imagine. I made sure my baby was fed, dressed and
bathed. Other than that, I didn't care."

Todd recalled taking his infant baby to work with him on the night
shift at an area coal mine and having the baby sleep in his truck,
because he knew his wife was unable to care for the child because she
was high on methamphetamine.

The couple argued and fought endlessly while under the influence for
no real reason. They were delusional, paranoid and consumed with how
to get their next "hit" of meth no matter what other responsibilities
they had in life.

On Dec. 29, 2004, the world as the Johnson family knew it for so many
years all came crashing down.

Christy had been up for five days on a "meth binge" when she heard a
knock at her door. Her three-year-old daughter was asleep on the couch.

The knock at the door was the police who carried warrants for the
couple's arrests.

She found herself temporarily signing away her rights to be a mother
to the baby she had tried so hard to conceive as she was taken away to jail.

However, that encounter with the law started the Johnsons on the long
road to recovery.

They admit it has been by the mercy and grace of God that neither had
to do extended jail time - other than house arrest - for their
multiple drug offenses.

Both have now been through extended rehab treatment programs to get
to where they are today.

The road back remains a daily struggle. By their own admission they
are still drug addicts and will be for the rest of their lives.

They still attend a couple of group meetings weekly with fellow
recovering addicts to deal with the temptation to take another hit of
an illegal drug or another drink of alcohol.

Both agree the transformation in their lives has not been easy, but
confess their lives are so much better now than they were just over
two years ago when drugs ruled their life.

We finally have the family that I have dreamed of," Todd said with a smile.

Christy, who used drugs for more than 18 years, urged the students to
think about the decisions they will make in the weeks, months and
years ahead because the resulting consequences can be experienced for
years to come like that have in her own life.

Don't think for a moment that just a little bit (of drugs) won't hurt
you. A little bit will last you a long, long time," she stated.

Todd's closing message to the students was simple.

I want you to know it (the drugs) did ruin our lives," Todd said.
Once I did meth for the first time I was addicted to it. It was
devastating what it done to us (as a family).

Everything bad that has happened in my life has happened because of
drugs or alcohol,"

Todd appealed to the students to make the right choices, even when
they are tempted by their peers - just like he and his wife were - to try it.

Looking back, you just don't have any idea what this drug
(methamphetamine) will do to you. If somebody tells you to try it
just one time, that could be it. That's all it takes with this drug,"
Todd said. "Think enough of yourself and the people around you and
the people that love you to stay away from these drugs because they
will kill you. They almost killed us."