MUSICAL WARNS YOUTHS ABOUT CRYSTAL METH

Rural Alberta communities concerned about the arrival of crystal
methamphetamine have joined together to educate kids and parents about
the drug.

Next week, they will use a bit of song and dance to drive home the
point.

The musical theatre production Wasted Angels -- written and presented
by a group of youths from Stony Plain -- will be staged three times
Monday at the Didsbury Memorial Complex.

Katie Lutz, the crime prevention co-ordinator for Didsbury, Carstairs
and Cremona, said the event will feature question-and-answer sessions
after each performance.

"We feel it's important as a community to try and address the issue of
crystal meth," said Lutz. "Prevention and knowledge are key in being
proactive, so that we can deal with a substance that can have such
damaging effects."

Methamphetamine is a highly addictive, physically destructive
stimulant that is cheap and easy to make. In February 2005, RCMP
busted one of the largest methamphetamine labs ever found in the
province on an acreage near Cremona.

Wasted Angels was commissioned by Alberta Children's Services, and has
been touring the province for the past year and a half. James
Gilchrist, theatre manager for the company Multi-Youth Productions,
said the "teens talking to teens" approach seems to work well.

"The tone sits well with a teenage audience," Gilchrist said. "It
reflects their lives."

The teenage members of the theatre group wrote the script
collaboratively after extensive research.