METH CAN DESTROY LIVES AND COMMUNITY

Drugs are getting scary.

Back when I was in high school, the worst thing a person could do was
smoke marijuana. Us non-pot smokers would look at the 'Stoners' with
distaste, not realizing our underage drinking essentially fell under
the same category. I guess we thought what we did at parties was a
little more socially acceptable than what they were doing.

The word is now, pot isn't really even considered a problem drug in
the area anymore. Weed has been downgraded from the drug of choice to
almost a non-issue. What's scary about that is that it means people
are getting involved in much nastier stuff than ol' Mary Jane.

Which brings me to my point (finally! you gasp). By all accounts,
methamphetamine is here, but hasn't put a stranglehold on the
Kincardine-area yet. I bring this up because a former meth addict gave
a presentation in Port Elgin recently and I felt his message was
important enough for people in our area to read his message as well,
so I stole it from our sister paper. It's on Page 4 -- go back and
read it if you skipped it and make sure your kids do too.

Why am I so worried about meth? The Alberta town of 8,000 I lived in
had a serious meth problem and, although none of my friends used the
drug (that I know of), I saw first-hand how speed (as it's also known)
can destroy a town. My town was located on the TransCanada Highway,
between Edmonton and Jasper. It's been affectionately called 'Canada's
drug corridor', because you can get to both Vancouver and Alaska from
this section of highway. You could get anything you wanted, so I heard.

Speed is cheap and they say you're addicted on your first hit. It's
full of chemicals you can buy at hardware and drugstores, so it's easy
to make. It destroys your brain, yet you can't get enough of it.

This town was in the heart of Alberta's oil patch. Kids straight out
of high school are making $75,000 a year, while those who have been in
the patch for years are making much more. But they often have to work
18 hour days for weeks at a time. That's why meth is so attractive to
them -- they can get through another day with a hit.

Problem is, these people have to feed their habit. When they blow
their paycheques, they have to start stealing (remember, these aren't
poor people!). I would get numerous police reports each week that
would tell of yet another house, shed or car break-in. The worst one I
ever heard was when people broke into our Kinsmen hall after a wedding
reception and left all the presents, but took all the envelopes,
looking for cash, ruining somebody's big day.

I've told people that once we see a dramatic spike in petty theft in
the area (anything that can be sold easily for money or even loose
change) then we offically have a meth problem.

Before we get to that point though and start setting up committees,
etc. to try to stop it, there should be dialogue about how it can
destroy the lives of not only the users, but also their family,
friends and the community.

Hopefully the story will stop people from ever taking that first
deadly hit.