REFORMED METH ADDICT WARNS STUDENTS

In Leandra Reuble's English classroom, a trifold poster board is
scrawled with messages and photos warning against the use of crystal
meth. One Midway High School student wrote, "Not as glamorous as it
looks!" next to a photo of an emaciated man.

Although the board was created several years ago, the next generation
of students protested its removal.

"There isn't a drug problem at Midway," Reuble said. "Most who have
experienced it have been through rehab and are past it. But they want
to get the message to other kids, who don't think it will touch them."

Last Tuesday, the dangers became more personal when Jamie Crawford,
23, of Yakima, shared her story of methamphetamine addiction with
students at Oak Harbor's Midway High School. She was there as part of
a campaign by Attorney General Rob McKenna: "Operation: Allied Against Meth."

McKenna was called away to Washington, D.C. for the financial crisis
and could not attend.

Anti-drug activist Travis Talbot and Crawford spent 45 minutes with
students, providing facts and showing them video clips.

The average life span of a habitual meth user is five years, Talbot
told students. Washington has one of the most serious meth epidemics
in the country, due in part to cross-border trafficking. It has the
largest number of federal drug seizures of meth in the Pacific region.

"Meth reminds me of a controlling relationship. You don't see what
they are at the very beginning," Talbot said.

Part of Talbot's work as the executive director of the nonprofit Lead
On Americawas to visit neighborhoods and help them remove meth
houses. He told the teens about the paranoia he witnessed and that 90
percent of people become addicted to meth the first time they try it.

To put the statistics in perspective, Crawford stepped up and
described the drug culture and lifestyle she once lived. She said she
first tried meth as a teen, later dropping out of school and spending
time in prison.

At age 16, she saw a man get his finger chopped off over a pack of
cigarettes. By 17, she knew five people who were murdered, and she
knew who committed the crimes.

"We were so selfish. We didn't care," she said.

Eventually, Crawford got clean after facing a long sentence in
prison, and earned her GED. She is studying to become a nurse.

Crawford has visited over 50 schools since 2005, giving her speech at
big assemblies. Friday was her first time speaking to a classroom of
30. The teens' expressions were somber throughout the speech, and
they questioned her about what life is like for her now.

She said her brain can't function as it did before the meth use and
she often forgets things. And because meth damages the dopamine
neuron, she doesn't feel the same level of joy.

Talbot asked the students if they knew a place to find meth in the
community. After a long silence, one student said, "It's Oak Harbor,
you can find it anywhere."

The prevalence, Talbot said, is because meth is easy and cheap to
produce. Although there were only 200 meth houses reported last year
(a drastic decline), drug cartels from Canada and Mexico smuggle it
over the border.

Crawford said positive reinforcement from the family structure could
help. Her family supported her during her court trials.

"I quit meth because there are bigger and better things for me out
there. You only live once," Crawford said.

Her story resonated with some of the students, such as junior Jamie
Marriott, who knows firsthand how the drug can affect someone she cares about.

"I know someone who does meth and I've seen what's happened. It's
terrible that they suffer. They'll do anything for it," Marriot said.
"It's good that (the speakers) let us know what the drug could do to
you and the experience of it, before people try it for themselves."

Students were encouraged to attend the 2008 Washington State
Prevention Summit in Yakima, Oct. 17 and 18.