MERRIMAN BACK FROM STRESS LEAVE

MLA Overwhelmed Helping People Deal With Drug Addictions

REGINA -- Being a politician can be a demanding job, but Saskatchewan Party
MLA Ted Merriman says there are much bigger burdens to carry.

The stress from trying to help people dealing with drug addiction in their
families has led him to seek professional help and kept him away from the
legislature for most of its spring sitting, Merriman said in an interview
this week.

Since December, when he and his family came forward to talk about the
crystal meth addiction of his daughter Kelly, Merriman has become the
public face for a problem facing many families.

That, combined with his efforts to boost education and treatment for
crystal meth addiction and his unhappiness with how the NDP government has
handled the issue, had become too much for the Saskatoon Northwest MLA in
recent months.

"When you are an MLA and people call you and expect that you can do
something for their drug-addicted kid, it compounds the frustration when
you can't," he said.

"The frustration level just builds and builds and the anxieties get more
and you need to go speak to somebody and get it under control. That's
really in essence what I'm doing."

Merriman, who filed medical documentation with the Speaker's office that
was needed for his absence, was at the legislature for the first two days
of this week after attending only one day since the session began on March 14.

Back in Saskatoon Wednesday, he said he plans to return to the legislature
on a full-time basis at the beginning of May.

The depression he felt at times has lifted and he's feeling better day by
day, he said. There are now two other people helping him work with the
families of crystal meth users.

Saskatchewan Party Leader Brad Wall said Merriman had the full support of
himself and the Opposition caucus.

"We're a team so when anybody is hurting we're all hurting," he said.

"Mental and physical health, I don't think there's a tier here where one is
more significant than another. They're health issues that have to be dealt
with."

Merriman has continued to do constituency work and has been developing a
social policy paper for the Opposition in his position as critic for
community resources and employment.

He has been co-ordinating a parent education program that will be run in
Saskatoon next month. It will be presented to the province's mayors in the
hopes it will be taken out across Saskatchewan.

Merriman said his daughter is "doing wonderful" and has been clean for
nearly 14 months.

She speaks at schools across the province about her experiences, sometimes
with her father.

A prominent city businessperson, Merriman is one of three Saskatchewan
Party MLAs from Saskatoon elected in 2003.

Merriman said he's not going to resign his seat and it's likely he will run
again in the next election.