FOR MANY 'GOOD GUYS,' METH ADDICTION BRINGS MAJOR LOSSES

ALBERTVILLE - Nancy Stancil wonders why her son became a drug addict who
sank low enough to steal from his parents.

She is so baffled by methamphetamine's power over him that she told her
doctor she had thought of trying the drug herself, just to understand.

"I've been racking my brain since this came up," said Nancy Stancil, an
assertive woman with striking blue eyes. "What makes people willing to lose
everything they have? They just can't quit doing the dope."

Her son, Casey Stancil, says the only explanation for his downfall is that
he tried meth and the drug whipped him, just like it whips most people it
touches. "This stuff is mean to anybody, from the projects to the
president," he said. "It's bad, bad."

Casey Stancil, 30, lost his wife, job, home and years with his children
because of meth. He's scheduled for release in October from the Marshall
County Community Corrections Facility.

His parents hope he can stay away from meth, but they've been disappointed
before.

"For so many years, we hounded him and bugged him about all this mess,"
said his father, John Stancil, 53. "We can't say he's gonna be fine. We
don't know. It's entirely up to him."

Casey Stancil's story isn't unusual, officials say. He comes from a
middle-class, two-parent home that provided all the basics. "I had
everything I ever wanted," Casey Stancil said.

Nickie Elrod, director of Marshall County's community corrections program,
knows the Stancils because they pick up their son for weekly visits.

"Casey comes from a very good family," Elrod said. "Casey is a good guy
that just got caught up - just like everybody else."

The family moved to Albertville from Gibsonburg, Ohio, in 1988, when Casey
Stancil was in the eighth grade.

"He lived and breathed football," said Nancy Stancil, 54, who retains her
Midwestern accent. "He never really studied a lot but always had good grades."

Stancil looks like he could play football without pads. At about 5-foot-10,
his frame is so wide that at 320 pounds he looks only slightly overweight.
He was honorable mention All-State as a left tackle at Albertville High,
where he graduated in 1993. Colleges were interested, but there were no
firm scholarship offers. He tried community college but started smoking
pot, lost interest and dropped out.

He landed work as a welder, making $13 an hour.

Casey Stancil said he was about 19 when he first used meth. He snorted the
drug with friends and quickly found it elevated partying to a whole new
level. "You could drink all night long if you got a little bit of meth in
you," Casey Stancil said.

At first, it was just for kicks on weekends.

"Then slowly but surely, it got to where it was harder to recover after
partying all weekend," he said.

Chuck Phillips, lead drug investigator with the Jackson County sheriff's
department, said that's a typical pattern.

"They'll want to do it on Friday when they get off work so they can party
all weekend," Phillips said. "Eventually, when Monday comes, they don't
have the energy to go to work, so they'll do the drug again. That's how
they get hooked."

Casey Stancil got married in 1998. He and his wife had a daughter, now 7,
and a son, who is 4. They took out a mortgage on a three-bedroom, two-bath
home in Albertville.

But Stancil's meth habit worsened. Eventually, his wife left and took the
children.

He quit working and began stealing to pay for his drugs.

"I really was a piece of garbage," Stancil said.

Casey Stancil committed forgery and theft to support his habit. He stole
from his parents twice, once taking all his father's tools. He lived in his
house for six months after the power and water were cut off, his mother said.

"What plumb amazes me about this whole thing is we've done everything we
can to make sure our children are happy," John Stancil said. "Then he comes
and robs us. We kinda forgave him for that, and he stole from us again."

Angela Sparks, director of the Marshall County Court Referral Program, said
people who use other drugs recreationally often find that's impossible with
meth. Addicts use the word spun to describe the loss of control. "Spun" is
the title of a 2002 movie casting Mickey Rourke as a meth cook.

"Meth takes them down a road they never thought they'd go down," Sparks
said. "They think they can manage it, but they can't."

Casey Stancil is serving a four-year, split sentence for forgery and theft
of property. He works full-time, returning to the center after work. He
visits his parents' home in Albertville once a week.

There was a relaxed air in the Stancils' family room during a recent Sunday
visit. A NASCAR race was on television. Relatives showed up for a backyard
cookout.

Casey Stancil gave his children lots of attention, tying shoes, pulling
them in a wagon and letting his son bounce and climb all over him.

John Stancil grilled hamburgers and hotdogs and watched his son play the
role of a good father. He hopes to see more of that when Stancil is
released from jail.

"These two children right here: It's priceless what this stuff is worth,"
John Stancil said.