RECOVERING ADDICTS SHARE LIFE STORIES WITH STUDENTS

The Weyburn Council on Alcohol and Drug Abuse (WECADA) hosted an abuse
awareness presentation for students at the Weyburn Comp and Bridge
schools on Thursday afternoon, with a special encore presentation for
parents in the evening

Two recovering addicts, Melinda L. and Jim C., presented their stories
to inform students, teachers and parents on the lifestyles of those
who suffer from an addiction. "I never thought that I had a problem,
or that I would be one of those people who I had heard in high school
talk about their addiction," said Melinda. Her addiction started at
the age of 12, after she got drunk the first time.

Due to an upbringing in an abusive home, she had a difficult time
fitting in at school and felt better about herself when she drank. It
was at the age of 13 that she started doing marijuana. Melinda then
got very good at lying to her parents and her teachers as the
addiction progressed. By the time she was 16, she started using LSD,
dealing drugs as well as using them and got in a lot of trouble at
school. After high school graduation, Melinda dropped out of
university to move to Calgary where she tried ecstasy for the first
time and soon after she was using cocaine.

"All I wanted to do was drink and do drugs," Melinda said. Her drug
abuse soon led her into being addicted to crystal meth. "It completely
made me psychotic; the only thing I could think about was where I was
going to get my next fix."

Then one day, "I finally had enough of the parties and feeling sick
and tired all the time," said Melinda. "Something inside of me pulled
me out of that place and I went into a rehab centre where I was able
to completely turn around."

"Today I have been in recovery for three and a half years; it took me
a lot of work to get to where I am but now I have a great life," said
Melinda.

Jim then shared his story, starting at the age of 14 when he first got
drunk and drank all through his teen years. Soon after leaving high
school, he found new friends to party with and became a binge drinker.

"There was this one night that I had my boss take me to an Alcoholics
Anonymous meeting, where they have a 20-question form that you had to
answer honestly to see if you are an alcoholic. It was the first test
I ever scored perfect on."

However he couldn't admit to his problem, so Jim soon associated with
new people and tried marijuana, hash, speed, cocaine and mushrooms. By
the age of 28 years, he was on the path of destruction. That path led
him to gambling and then cocaine. "There was a time that I put $80,000
worth of cocaine into my body, and I just couldn't stop my addiction."

Then in September of 1999 Jim just felt empty and that he had no joy
left, after being an addict for 35 years. Jim said that it was then
that he "prayed for help and have been clean since. I learned since
then that I may have done a lot of bad things, but that didn't mean
that I was a bad person. Addiction is a disease with no cure, though
there is a way to be in recovery. We are here because we want you to
know to not be afraid to call out for help, it is there."

Residents in the Weyburn area who are looking for help for themselves
or family members, or who want more information on drug abuse and the
effects of drug abuse, can call the addiction services of the Sun
Country Health Region.