MOTHER TELLS HORROR OF LOSING SON TO CRYSTAL-METH ADDICTION

700 Attend Province Session On The Havoc Drug Is Wreaking

All Kerry Jackson has left of her son Ryan are the tape recordings of
his cries for help over the phone.

"I wanted to prove that he really needed help," Jackson last night
told a crowd of 700 at the third of The Province's four forums on the
horrors of crystal meth.

"But he was able to fool people -- to talk straight."

That was until March 2001, when young Ryan, who had been using crystal
meth for three years, was found wandering in a Chilliwack field.

After that first psychotic episode Ryan went to hospital for a month
before being released into the community.

He got back into meth, his mom still taking his telephone calls,
wishing she could force her only son into treatment.

The most heartbreaking call came when Ryan called weeping, saying he
had performed oral sex on a man for $100.

"He ended up with a choice of becoming a criminal or a victim," she
said.

"He always said he would never hurt anyone, so he became a victim of
the gay community," she said.

Jackson, who lives in White Rock, said Ryan was duped into using
crystal meth the first time by someone who laced his marijuana cigarette.

"He lost everything: his possessions, his girlfriends, his bed," she
said.

"He used to say to me when he was using, 'All is good.' I hate that
saying. If Ryan were alive now I think he would say, 'All is not good.
Don't do crystal meth.'"

Ryan was hospitalized four times during 2001 and 2002 before quitting
cold turkey.

Sadly, he also stopped taking his medication for bipolar disorder --
which was induced by his four-year meth addiction -- and slipped into
depression.

Soon after, Ryan, 26, jumped from the Cambie Street bridge, killing
himself instantly in January 2002.

Jackson said that because toxicology reports showed he had no meth in
his system, his death was not attributed to the killer drug.

"I wonder how many other suicides aren't listed due to crystal meth,"
said Jackson, who drew a powerful reaction from the hundreds in
attendance at Surrey's Bell Centre.

"I will devote the rest of my life to providing support for parents,"
she said.

Province editor-in-chief Wayne Moriarty introduced the forum last
night. Other speakers included Province reporter Matthew Ramsey -- who
wrote last month's weeklong series on crystal meth -- and Dr. Bill
MacEwan, who explained how meth can lead to psychosis.

Jackson has launched a website, www.2020Parenting.com, to help parents
identify whether their child is using drugs.

The first forum was held in Kamloops on April 26 and featured Cpl.
Scott Rintoul of the RCMP's drug-awareness section and Andrew Youds, a
recovering meth addict.

On Monday night in Victoria, the forum featured drug-awareness
co-ordinator Const. Kim Basi and Gord Robson, the Maple Ridge man
whose work in profiling his community's efforts in battling the drug
have captured attention from as far away as Hawaii.

On Thursday, the final forum will be held at John Oliver Secondary
in Vancouver. It starts at 7 p.m.