ADDICTS SHOW KIDS FACES OF METH

School students in Northeast Georgia are getting an "up close and
personal" look at the dangers of methamphetamine, thanks to a new
program which brings former addicts into the classrooms.

The Faces of Meth program reaches throughout Northeast Georgia with a
message - meth is dangerous and deadly.

According to officials, nearly 2 million Americans are addicted to
meth and one out of every 10 teens becomes addicted after trying the
drug just once.

"Northeast Georgia is no exception," said Sharon Lee, director of the
task force. "The addiction rate is 95 percent after one try."

Agents and other law enforcement officials agree that meth is the No.
1 drug problem in Georgia. Addicts usually display distorted faces
and rotting teeth.

But in the case of Teresa, a local woman who became hooked on the
drug as a way to lose weight, her outward appearance didn't give her
away as a meth addict. She said she was a loving soccer mom and wife
who took meth to loose weight and boost her energy level.

She had a friend who introduced her to what is called the "Jenny
Crank" diet of meth.

"I thought that I could lose the weight and then get off the drug,
but it didn't work that way," she recently told a group of students
at Rabun County High School.

Teresa lost weight, but also lost her family and nearly lost her
life.

"It got to a point that I no longer had the high and I became
suicidal," she said. "I feel that God gave me a second chance to live
and I knew that I could never use meth again."

She has been clean for more than four years and spends considerable
time telling anyone who will listen about the dangers of the drug.

"We know that meth has gotten into a lot of the schools in our area
and we just want to do all we can to keep those young and innocent
faces from ever looking like a meth face," Teresa said.