STUDENT TARGETS METH MYTHS

The Stetson University Junior Tells An Audience About The Scope And
Depth Of The Crisis

DeLAND - If there's one thing Stetson University student William
Collum wants his classmates to know about methamphetamine, it's this:
"This ain't your grandma's speed."

On Friday, more than 100 Stetson students in tie-dye T-shirts and
baseball caps found out for themselves just how much worse it is.

Collum, a junior political-science student who has spent his summer
vacations as a congressional intern in Washington, had done so much
research on meth that he felt compelled to share his findings with
others. He said that college students are one of the groups most
likely to use the drug.

"It's described as God, really," Collum told his classmates. "It puts
you in heaven, for a moment."

Some of the meth abusers in Collum's presentation looked like they
had been through quite the opposite.

A blown-up photo of a convicted abuser, who was on meth for 36
months, was one of several examples onstage at Stetson's Rinker
Auditorium. Before meth, the woman was petite and unremarkable. In
her after-meth picture, the woman was disheveled and scarred, looking
much older.

"People have been known to actually dig up their skin," Collum said.
"It's called the Superman state. . . . You don't feel pain."

Meth is a drug that can be chemically produced, or cooked, at home,
Collum said. It is made from pseudoephedrine and ephedrine, which is
why some drugstores now require consumers to first show
identification when buying cold medicines.

The effects also can be devastating for nonusers.

Sometimes, chemicals seep into walls and the clothes of unsuspecting
residents who didn't realize the house they bought was used as a
drug-producing warehouse, Collum said.

Ryan Hutson, 21, a senior political-science and Spanish student, said
Collum's presentation helped students learn more about the deadly
concoction.

"It's something that people have heard about . . . but they don't
know much about it," Hutson said. "He and I are exact opposites on
the political spectrum, but the meth topic is always something that
we can always come back to."

Collum said that combating the drug has been a bipartisan issue in
Washington too. He said his focus on Friday was to make others aware
that there were legislators seeking funding. The more public
awareness on the issue, he said, the more support there is in
Congress to combat the drug.

"I wanted people to just show up for the cause, not because of the
speaker," Collum said as students filed out of the auditorium. "I
hope that it'd cause discussion, and I know that it did."