STUDENTS CREATE OWN METH MAG

Dear Crystal, you helped make the pain go away.

Even when I wasn't high my thoughts of you would stay.

I abused you and then you used me.

I had no fear of you at first but then you made me see.

Dear Crystal, release me from your grip.

Someone save me before I start to slip. . . .

18-year-old Kristen Nash's poem Dear Crystal begins with a plea to be
let loose from addiction. The reader envisions a power struggle
between Crystal, the highly addictive drug crystal meth, and the
narrator, a user.

However that's simply where the story begins.

Nash is one of four North Shore students at Keith Lynn Alternative
secondary who decided to turn their personal experiences into a means
of helping others. Having all had various experiences with crystal
meth use in the past Nash, Jennifer Aitken, 17, Sarah Fly, 17 and
Rilee Burrows, 15, worked together to design and publish a
preventative magazine to be distributed to local youth.

Nash's poem appears in the full colour 20-page magazine, along with
art work, information on what's in crystal meth and its effects, and
local resources. The magazine takes a no-holds-barred approach and
while graphic in nature, the girls say it tells the truth, which they
hope will make their peers think twice about trying the drug.

Keith Lynn teacher Rae Schidlo kick-started the project last fall.
She was chosen as the school's representative on the North Shore
Crystal Meth Task Force which is in the final stages of a 90-day
public awareness campaign. Using the provincial Ministry of Health's
former anti-smoking publication Gasp as a model, Schidlo approached
the girls and asked them if they were interested in creating a
similar publication focused on crystal meth.

The girls were "privileged" to work on the magazine, said Burrows.

"I don't think there's enough information out there about meth," she said.

The earlier information is disseminated, the better.

"When I was in Grade 8, I did it without even knowing what it was or
how bad it is," said Burrows.

"If they see the magazine, they're going to know," added Aitken.

The girls hope their magazine can be distributed to children as early
as in elementary school since the transitions experienced by students
between Grade 5 and Grade 8 are intense, said Burrows.

While the magazine is graphic in nature, it's telling the truth about
the effect of the drug on users. Parents shouldn't be afraid to
expose their children to this type of information, said Aitken.

"I don't think if anyone knew how bad it really is, they would ever
do it in the first place," she said.

The best part of the magazine is that its content was created by
individuals who have actually gone through crystal meth addiction,
adding to its legitimacy, said Nash.

"Their heart and soul and pain all went into this magazine," she said.

So far, 3,000 copies of the magazine have been printed, thanks to
funding provided by the North Shore Lions Club. The magazine has been
distributed to all the students at Keith Lynn.

"I feel that this school is a step ahead because they've gone through
the magazine now and they know everything about (crystal meth). . .
." said Aitken. "Other schools need to hear it too."

So far 200 copies have gone to each North Vancouver high school and
copies have been given to the school board for further distribution
consideration.

The girls are incredibly proud of their accomplishment. Schidlo said
she is happy that the project is giving them an opportunity "to be heard."

"Now looking at it, I still can't believe it," said Fly.

Burrows said she watched a young boy flip through the magazine,
making the most disgusted faces she has ever seen.

"I felt so happy," she said. "I haven't felt that happy in so long.
It was just a natural high because I know that he's never going to ever do it."

Nash said if anybody had told her a year and a half ago that she
would be clean and making the magazine she wouldn't have believed them.

"We went through what we went through maybe to help others," said Burrows.

While the magazine has been completed, the girls are just getting
started in their anti-crystal meth advocacy. They're going to be
participants in upcoming North Shore drug awareness forums and
workshops. As well, they're spreading the word about the need for
more local rehabilitation, detox and treatment facilities, said
Aitken. They hope the community as a whole can work together to deal
with local drug addiction issues.

By the end of Nash's poem, the power struggle has ended as the
narrator banishes the drug from her life.

". . . Dear Crystal, we cannot be friends you see.

All you do is take advantage of me.

So now please just turn off the lights.

Follow your gak, crystal meth children into the night."

Like Aitken, Burrows, Fly and Nash in their efforts to prevent others
from going through what they have, she has been empowered.