STORIES OF CRYSTAL METH'S DESTRUCTION SHARED AT PROVINCE FORUM

KAMLOOPS -- Beverly Leclerc drove here for more than three hours from
Oliver yesterday, to learn how she can help her 17-year-old daughter get
off crystal methamphetamine.

The distraught mother was one of hundreds of people attending a free
community-education forum put on by The Province to address the growing
problem of crystal meth in B.C. Many in attendance could relate to
Leclerc's two-year struggle to find help for her child.

While there weren't any immediate answers to the question of how to get
treatment on demand, those in attendance did learn that the drug is
becoming increasingly prevalent in communities just like Kamloops, and that
it effects white collar professionals as well as A-students and
street-entrenched youth.

"People say it won't happen in Kamloops. Yes it will," said RCMP Cpl. Scott
Rintoul, one of four panelists who shared their experience with the potent
drug.

The forum, held at the Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops, was the
first of four The Province is staging to open a dialogue on the issue. They
follow a weeklong series of articles called The Menace of Crystal Meth,
which ran in The Province April 17-24.

Written by reporter Matthew Ramsey, the series covered such topics as
crystal meth's effect on communities, fighting meth labs and how the drug
affects an addict's family, as well as the community.

Moderator Sandy Heimlich-Hall, assistant news director for CFJC TV in
Kamloops, shared the story of her brother's death 15 years ago after a hit
of crystal meth, or "ice."

After taking it, she described, the 27-year-old went berserk and ran
through a plate glass window.

Ramsey also related his family's struggle with his cousin's addiction - a
situation that inspired the written series and follow-up forums.

Also on the panel was the subject of one of Ramsey's stories -- former-user
Andrew Youds, a Kamloops resident who kicked the habit in Meth Kickers, a
program run out of the provincially funded Phoenix Centre.

His father, Mike Youds, was also present to talk about the ordeal from the
family's point of view.

"We need to learn the proper information so we can learn to deal with
this," he told an attentive audience, about half of which was made up of teens.

Another mom broke down while telling the audience about her futile struggle
to get her 19 year-old daughter off crystal meth.

"I don't even know where my daughter is now and I don't know what to do
next," she said.

As a result of the forum, several people volunteered to stage a local
summit on crystal meth and devise local solutions to the crisis.

The next forum is planned for Oak Bay High West in Victoria on May 2,
followed by the Bell Centre for the Performing Arts in Surrey May 3 and
John Oliver Secondary in Vancouver May 5. All forums run from 7-9 p.m. and
are free to the public.