METH ALMOST COST MAN HIS FAMILY, LIFE

It's not often a crowd of 300 will sit silently.

But it happened when David Parnell -- a methamphetamine and suicide
survivor -- spoke at the Port Elgin Rotary Hall on July 27. Parnell
presented his personal battle with addiction to those in attendance.

He shared his story, without missing a gruesome detail and in the end
the message was clear -- methamphetamine is a death sentence for
anyone who uses it.

"It was the most powerful presentation I have ever seen and, although
it was graphic in nature, it needed to be for him to drive home the
effect that this drug has on people," said Saugeen Shores Police Chief
Dan Rivett, after the presentation.

Parnell was addicted to methamphetamine for seven years before he
attempted suicide and shot off a majority of his lower face with a
rifle.

"The bullet came out between my eyes and broke every bone in my face,"
said Parnell, who would receive over 15 surgeries following the
suicide attempt.

His injuries were so extensive that the sheriff's department wrote him
off as dead while transporting him to the hospital.

But Parnell survived and is now using his second chance to bring the
truth about methamphetamine to communities across Canada and the U.S.

"This is one of the most addictive and destructive drugs that the
world has ever seen," said Parnell.

Parnell took the audience through his life as an addict, starting at
13 with marijuana and heavy drinking. By the time he finished high
school he was using drugs on a daily basis, including cocaine.

When Parnell's first marriage to his high school sweet heart failed he
moved to Dallas, TX, where he began to deal and use meth.

Parnell would spend days awake strung out on meth and, as his
addiction became more severe, he began to suffer from dementia,
depression and uncontrollable shaking that was similar to that of
Parkinson's victims.

Parnell described the walls and ceilings of his house as bullet-ridden
because of the shots he fired at the 'shadow people' he saw and heard
in his mind, as the drug's side effects of paranoia took over.

Parnell was an addict for 23 years, a time where he admits to abusing
and neglecting his wife and six children.

"I even got her doing it," said Parnell, in reference to his wife Amy,
"just to keep her from nagging me."

Amy was able to get clean before Parnell and it was the threat of her
leaving that pushed him over the edge the night he attempted suicide.

According to Parnell, the instant after he shot himself he regretted
what he had done. He believed God gave him a second chance to help
others and to prevent young people from going down the same path.

"I'm doing this for the kids so they can make the decision not to be
like me."

Parnell brought a great deal of information to the audience about the
dangers of methamphetamine and the signs of a user.

"Go into your kids' bedrooms. Not because you don't trust them, but
because you love them."

Parnell explained meth is so powerful that it can be entered into the
body's system by smoking, sniffing or injecting it and even through
oral consumption. He warned parents to look for glass pipes,
disassembled pens, needles and tinfoil.

"Meth brings out violence in people. It robs them of their ability to
love and feel compassion."

Parnell presented case after case of "inhumane acts of child and
spousal" abuse at the hands of an addict, accompanied by images that
made the audience cringe.

Some of the most horrific stories that Parnell shared were of children
who suffered years of abuse and neglect from their parents, who were
strung out on meth. Parnell seemed to have a never-ending supply of
photos of burned and beaten children who had not survived their
parent's addiction.

Parnell was also concerned with the making of this highly explosive
drug and the travelling meth labs that are even more popular in rural
areas.

"Anyone can be cooking this stuff because the recipes are all over the
Internet," said Parnell.

Rivett said methamphetamine is not a problem in Saugeen Shores and the
presentation was aimed at keeping it that way.

"We are trying to educate and stop this drug from getting a hold of
our community, like it has so many others," Rivett said.